Glitterati
by OhioSummer
Summary: Miley is an ultra-successful business woman as the founder of Glitterati, the biggest talent management agency known to man. When Nick is assigned to be her assistant, he's infatuated with his new boss, while she dispises him. Will she ever come around?
1. Chapter 1

**Glitterati-** _noun;_ the fashionable set of people engaged in show business or some other glamorous activity.

A taxicab screeched to a halt in front of a massive twenty-story glass building. In the midst of all the New York Traffic and bustling sidewalks of the city, a slim, alluring brunette stepped out of the yellow car wearing nothing but Gucci and Vera Wang. Peeking over her oversized sunglasses, the woman slipped her driver a hundred dollar bill with a charming wink.

"Keep the change," the female practically demanded. The cab driver was struck speechless. He only nodded before speeding away from the skyscraper and the powerful individual in front of it.

All thoughts of the chauffeur exited the businesswoman's head just as fast as he raced away. She examined the building in front of her and smiled in approval. It was so beautiful. Absolutely stunning.

Its architecture was flawless. Its sleek, cylindrical shape was jaw dropping. Every window was perfectly spotless. Every detail of the office's unique appearance was exquisite. The way the thirty year old marveled at the structure one would assume it was her first time seeing it- even though she'd seen it every weekday for the past eight years.

She couldn't claim the entire property, but the matron proudly owned every inch of floors seventeen and eighteen: _Glitterati Talent._ Set in one of the most famous cities known to man, Glitterati was the headquarters of entertainment. Aspiring actors, models and singers from across the globe dreamt of being included into the chic management. The agency had manufactured some of the most famous people _in the world_. Access into the organization was practically a guaranteed ticket to worldwide fame and success.

An invitation into Glitterati seemed easy enough to come by. Hopeful clients would send in a resume, a few photographs, and a sixty second audition tape or a music CD. If selected out of the hundreds of weekly applicants, the lucky candidate would be called in to the offices to try out in front of the company's president herself. The only factor that gave Glitterati its elite label was simple: Only the best were accepted. Period.

After being elevated to floor seventeen of the building, the Glitterati president herself strutted into her work place, each step commanding authority.

"Good Morning, Miss Stewart. How are you?" A woman behind the front desk asked upon her boss' arrival.

"Super," Miley replied, suddenly impatiently. "Any mail for me today, Stacey?" she asked her secretary, yanking off her sunglasses.

Nodding, Stacey handed Miley a thick stack of rubber-banded papers and manila envelopes. Fingering through the pile, the brunette commented, "Resume time again? It seems like I just finished going through the last batch." This was in fact the case. Miley had just interviewed the last of prospects the previous day. "Phone the guys upstairs and tell them to be more picky with their selections. I'm a busy woman, for God's sake. I can't deal with so many papers."

While floor seventeen of Glitterati dealt with business and financial matters, the floor just above was in charge of sorting mail and choosing people worthy of the agency's consideration. Those applications were forwarded to Miley every other Friday. Lately the volume of resumes being sent to the Glitterati president had been quite high. Miley simply didn't have the time to look through all of them.

"Yes ma'am," Stacey said, making a note in her computer.

Miley pivoted away from the desk but had yet to take more than a few steps before the secretary called for her again. "Oh, Miss Stewart! I forgot to tell you something." Stacey hailed her employer.

"What is _it_?" Miley said, clearly irritated. She tapped her bright red high heels impatiently. She didn't have time for this nonsense.

"I just wanted to remind you that your new assistant is coming in today." Stacy seemed unaffected by Miley's harsh tone. She had been used to it by then. After working in the company so long, everyone had become immune to Miley's short fuse.

"Whatever. Miley physically waved the comment off without even glancing back at Stacey.

At the moment, Miley couldn't care less about a stupid assistant. She had so many other things on her mind. Fridays were always the busiest days at work. Miley always had double the phone calls, double the paperwork, and now an oversized stack of potential talent to deal with.

Come to think of it, maybe she would need her assistant after all...

Miley shoved the thought out of her head as she unlocked her office and stepped inside. She slapped the mound of paper onto her desk and tossed her coat over the back of her leather swivel chair before collapsing into it herself. After logging into her shiny iMac computer, Miley opened up her daily itinerary.

December 1

Meetings:

10:30 AM, 12:00 PM, 2:00 PM, 5:15 PM

_Wonderful, _Miley thought sarcastically. _I'm completely booked today. I doubt I'll even have time to eat._

Miley glanced at the clock in the corner of the computer screen. She had a little over a half an hour before her first meeting of the day. Might as well do something with it. She tore the rubber band off of the mountain of papers in front of her. She had barely opened her first yellow envelope before she noticed a figure at the door.

"Knock, knock." Karin, one of the head agents at Glitterati and Miley's closest friend, stood in the doorway, grinning. Her unnatural platinum blonde hair was pulled into a long ponytail on top her head, and the woman looked extra glamorous in a ruffled blouse and high wasted pencil skirt.

Miley looked up from her work and silently greeted her visitor with a polite smile. Secretly, as much as she liked her best friend, she wished she could be left alone during her limited amount of free time.

Karin waltzed into Miley's office, closing the door behind her. "Oh my god." She approached Miley's desk. "Have you _seen_ your new assistant?"

"No," Miley informed, not concerned in the least. She examined at a photo of a doll-faced female before tossing it in the trash. Too fat.

"Miley, he's super adorable," Karin gushed in awe, her ponytail swaying. "You're going to love him. He went out to get your coffee a while ago. Should be back any minute now."

Miley froze, looking up at her friend in shock. "_He?_" she asked for confirmation. She must have heard incorrectly. "I thought we had a rule here- no male assistants ever again."

"Oh, Miley." Karin placed a hand on her workmate's shoulder. She smiled playfully. "Don't tell me you're still not over what happened with-"

"Shush!" Miley lifted one of her narrow, freshly manicured fingers to her lips. "Don't say his name in this building."

"Fine," Karin groaned in agreement. "I just don't think you should hold a grudge. I mean it was one guy-assistant. You just got unlucky." She shrugged.

Miley made clear, "I'm not taking any chances."

"I think this new guy is worth a chance," Karin suggested certainly.

Miley ripped open another envelope. She needed to get some more work done before her meeting. "I disagree," she notified the blonde indifferently.

"You haven't even met him!" Karin mentioned in defense.

Miley wouldn't budge. "I don't need to. All men are the same." Obviously.

Karin raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that?" She crossed her arms while an apparent expression of frustration crossed her face.

"Positive." Miley tossed another envelope in the garbage can beside her desk.

Just then, there was a faint rap on the door. The two young businesswomen exchanged glances before Karin turned on her heels and went to answer it. Her face lit up when she recognized who the visitor was.

"Nick! We were just talking about you." Karin turned and winked at Miley who rolled her eyes, unamused. "Miley's at her desk. I'll leave you two alone to, you know, bond." She fluttered her eyes, and didn't waste any time scampering out of the office.

A young looking male entered the room holding a cup of coffee in each hand. His chocolate eyes twinkled when he set them on the beautiful Glitterati president. A mound of dark curls sat atop his head, and his bright red cheeks –a result of the brisk New York winter weather- was an uneven addition to his light skin tone.

"Hi, I'm Nick." He grinned confidently, showing his teeth.

Miley's response was ill bred. "Do you have a last name, or what?" she hissed.

Even though Miley had only known Nick for a total of thirty seconds, she already didn't like him. His self-assured smile was a huge turn off to her. Miley was already conceited. She didn't need someone else around that acted the same way.

"Gray. Nick Gray." Oddly, Nick seemed unaffected by Miley's cheeky mood. "I brought you coffee," he announced.

Nick strolled to Miley's desk and placed the steaming cup beside her nameplate. "Here."

"What took you so long?" Miley inquired even though the absence of her daily coffee had gone unnoticed since her arrival. She was just giving Nick a hard time to express her dislike towards him.

"I got here late. New York City traffic sucks." Nick's nonchalant persona was beginning to irk Miley immensely. Why wasn't he nervous? Most people were intimidated while in the powerful woman's presence. Miley was sometimes known to make people cry.

"Don't let it happen again," she growled.

Nick nodded. "Gotcha." He placed his own coffee on a nearby side table.

Miley scowled in disapproval of the _still _apathetic response. He didn't seem to notice her grimace. Nothing scared this guy. It was annoying.

"Where should I put my coat?" Nick suddenly questioned, removing his heavy black winter jacket as he spoke.

"There's a closet down the hall. Second door to the left."

"Thanks." With that, Nick vanished from the room en route to the coat closet.

Miley sighed in relief. Peace. She grabbed for her piping hot coffee, and promptly took a sip. A few seconds later, the scalding beverage was all over her floor after she had spit it out in disgust. That was definitely not her usual vanilla latte. No one messed with Miley Stewart's coffee. No one. Nick Gray was a dead man.

Picking up Starbucks was the easiest job all day. If Nick managed to screw that up who knew what else he was incapable of?

Soon enough, Miley's latest assistant returned to the office and immediately noticed the dirty glare on his boss' face. "Is something... wrong?" Nick asked uncertainly. He was obviously clueless.

"What the hell is this?" Miley exclaimed. She held out the Styrofoam coffee cup for Nick to see. "Didn't Stacey tell you what kind of coffee I like?"

"Yeah, she did. I just thought you might want to try something different," he explained innocently. "How do you like it?"

As if Miley's grim expression didn't say it all.

Her reply was dry. "I hate it. It's disgusting. _What the hell is it_?" she repeated, growling. She narrowed her eyes in an intimidating manner, but Nick overlooked her gestures of distaste yet again.

"It's a Cinnamon Dolce latte," he specified as a matter a factly. "Personally I don't think it's that bad." He picked up his own coffee and took a long gulp. "It's pretty delicious, actually."

Miley ignored Nick's opposing opinion. "Well, whatever it is, you're not ever to bring it into my office again," she snarled sternly. "Do I make myself clear, Gray?"

Nick took another sip of his drink with a shrug. "Whatever you say, _Stewart,_" he agreed unwillingly.

"That's Miss Stewart to you, Gray."

"But you just called me-" Nick began to protest, but was cut off at once.

Miley was extremely piqued at the moment. As if her day wasn't complicated enough already, a mouthy assistant was not a necessity. She was the mouth off around here, not anyone else.

"You are to address me properly. Until you show me some respect, I'll call you whatever I want. Do you understand?" The brutal clarity of Miley's statement was impossible to deny even for a brave soul like Nick.

"Whatever you say, Miss Stewart," he agreed bitterly.

"Good," said Miley, satisfied. "Now let's get to work." Without hesitation the woman fished through her paperwork, before handing her new assistant the first audio CD she could get her hands on.

Miley pointed to a state of the art, lustrous stereo on the opposite wall. It had to be at least a two grand. _At least. _"Play it for me," she ordered then continued skimming resumes without another word.

Nick obeyed, and soon a catchy beat hovered among the room.

While Miley was diligently filtering talent, her deputy treaded around the office, admiring the various framed documents and photos lining the cream colored walls. Awards, national news articles, and signed photos from some of the most brilliant personalities in the world were among the many precious items.

A prestigious looking award caught Nick's eye, the text written in fine script.

Best Talent Management Strategy for the Year of 2021

Glitterati Talent

Miley Stewart

Dioganal to the certificate hung an enlarged _Newsweek_ article featuring the Glitterati President. A sophisticated, younger-looking Miley graced the top of the page. Her arms were crossed loosely against the chest of her dark gray suit. Her chin was raised in the slightest and a plain white sort of step elevated her left leg. The words "all or nothing" were printed in big block letters beside the influential female, and a lengthy story was impressed below the photograph.

"_If you have it, you have it. If you don't, you don't. It's all or nothing in this business."_

_Those are the words of Miley Stewart, founder and chief executive of Glitterati Talent in New York City. "It might be harsh, but it's true. At Glitterati we only accept the best of the best."_

_The ultra successful talent agency is one of the best itself. Just last year the management raked in over $12.7 million-_

Nick peered at Miley from the corner of his eye. Damn. This chick was a big deal. And she was loaded.

Nick began to question himself. How had he not known about Miley? She was practically the queen of the entertainment industry. Maybe that was just it. Nick never had been much of a dedicated follower when it came to celebrities and things of that nature. But still. By the way this article portrayed her it seemed as if everyone knew of Miley. He was just a young hopeful when he moved to the Big Apple a few months ago. Now he was working with one of the most powerful people in America, possibly even the world, without even trying. How did he get so lucky?

Nick snuck a glance at Miley again. As she leaned over her desk, an unruly piece of her cocoa-colored hair hung just below her chin while the rest of it was piled neatly on top of her head.

She _did_ have pretty nice features, Nick noticed as he took a better look at Miley. Her turquoise eyes were dazzling by only the light of the office. Her nose was cute- proportioned with a rounded tip. The businesswoman's pink lips were coated in lipstick, but other than that Miley didn't appear to be wearing much makeup. Nick was always one to be appreciative of a woman confident enough to sport the natural look- and look great doing it.

But the young assistant couldn't help to notice something familiar about Miley. Her face rang a bell. There was just something about her, but he couldn't seem to put his finger on it...

Perplexed, Nick shifted his attention back to the wall in front of him and the familiarity of Miley's face become obvious by an autographed photo hanging on it.

Hannah Montana. That was it. Miley used to be Hannah Montana. Nick recalled the heavy coverage when it was revealed that the teen pop star had a secret identity. Although he didn't pay much attention to the headlines, he remembered them.

"So you were Hannah Montana, huh?" Nick turned to Miley, grinning.

"Yep." Nick barley had Miley's attention.

He nodded in approval. "That's cool."

"Uh-huh." Miley scribbled something onto a paper then swiveled her chair to her computer.

Nick watched, desperate for her to say more. The second he laid eyes on Miley he knew she was something special. Learning more about her success only increased his interest.

Money. Fame. Beauty. Power. Lust. She was like an angel sent to Nick from heaven. Her unique personality was riveting. Her private persona only made him want her more. He'd only just met Miley, but Nick was smitten. That he was sure of.

"I always thought Hannah Montana was cute," Nick smirked wildly. Maybe Miley would open up to a flirt.

Miley looked away from her computer for a quick moment, examining Nick from head to toe. "Wasn't she a little bit old for you?" she inquired sharply.

"I'm pretty sure you and I are the same age," Nick filled in confidently. He was happy to have seemed to have clenched her attention for the moment.

"How old are you?" Miley demanded to know.

Nick crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. He hoped he looked just as cool as he felt. "Guess."

"Twenty-four."

Nick was insulted. He knew he had a baby face, but come on! _Twenty-four? _He brushed his hand along his chin. Maybe he should skip shaving for a few days. It might make him look older.

"I'm thirty," Nick informed her, practically sneering.

"You don't look like it."

Nick scowled. Miley was spitting out the rude comebacks with ease. "Well, I am."

Miley stared at Nick for a moment before commenting on the fact. "Intriguing." And then she was back to work.

Shoot. He'd lost her already. He couldn't let her go that easily.

"So, how long have you lived in New York?"

Nick had barely finished his sentence before Miley retorted in annoyance. "Stop talking to me. Can't you see I'm doing something?" She held up a finger to summon Nick to silence.

Shot down. Just like that.

Nick stayed silent for the next few moments. He didn't move either. It was obvious that Miley disliked Nick immensely, but he just couldn't bring himself to lie off of her. He believed Miley would grow on to him. She had to.

Just then, the music CD ended, and Nick took advantage of its hault. "You want me to get that for you?" he offered.

"Yeah, sure."

Nick tried to ignore the fact that Miley was obviously more absorbed into her computer than into him. He cleared his throat before taking a single step towards the stereo.

Suddenly a loud crashing sound echoed off the walls of the office. Startled, Nick whipped his body around and noticed immedietly what the source of the noise was. Three of the pictures that had been hanging on the wall behind had tumbled to the ground. He must have been leaning on them. Oops.

Nick bit his lip and braced himself as he slowly turned to face Miley at her desk. Her mouth was wide open. She closed it for a second, and then opened it again, completely speechless.

The brunette lifted herself from her chair and ambled over to the mess her fresh assistant had made. She looked from the disarray –a pile of glass and photographs- to Nick and back again before speaking.

"You... _idiot_," Miley hissed angrily. "How the hell did you manage to do this? Huh?" She directed her finger toward the shambles in disbelief.

Nick examined the damage prior to speaking. Luckily none of Miley's framed treasures seemed to be harmed, but the glass surrounding them was a different story, as well as one expensive looking picture frame, which was obviously busted.

Nick dodged Mile's question. "I'll, uh, clean it up." He kneeled down and reached for a photo featuring Miley and the legendary Britney Spears, but his hand was immedietly slapped away.

"Just don't touch anything! Okay?" An irate Miley groaned and paced back to her workstation. Leaning over her desk she pressed a button on the intercom.

Shortly, Stacey's voice was heard on the other end. "Yes, Miss Stewart?"

"Stacey, I need custodial services in my office- _now_," Miley barked at her.

The secretary was evidently puzzled but complied with the request. "Right away, ma'am." Faint keystrokes could be heard on the other end of the line. "And Miley?"

"Yes, Stacey?" Miley was growing more restless by the second.

"They're waiting for you in your meeting upstairs."

Miley snapped her head to the clock above her desk. 10:40. She was ten minutes late already. Where had the time gone so quickly?

"Damn it," Miley cursed under her breath, causing Nick to cringe in guilt. "Tell them I'll be right up. There was an incident in my office this morning." Miley eyed Nick keenly.

"Will do, Miss Stewart."

It was then that Miley raised her finger from the intercom, grabbed her purse, and briskly headed for the door.

"What do you want me to do?" Nick asked curiously.

Miley threw her head back in exasperation. "I don't know! Go... talk to Karin or something." She remembered her friend's odd fascination with Nick and decided she could keep him busy.

Following her order, Nick stuck his head out of her headquarters and watched in awe as Miley sashayed out of her office and eventually stepped into the elevator at the end of the hall.

"Get out of my office, Gray!" she yelled.

Then the elevator doors shut, and she was gone.

An abrupt emptiness swept over Nick without Miley in his presence. Sighing, he left the woman's office, closing the door behind him.

Even though Miley had been nothing but a grade A bitch to Nick, he stilled missed her. _A lot. _Her nastiness was what made his lust for her so strong.

_**Reviews are very much appreciated!**_** I promise I will finish this story. Pinky swear.**

**And sorry for any spelling and grammar errors. I can't even tell you how many times I've read over this, but there are still mistakes. Ugh...**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm sorry for the few spelling/grammar errors. Spell check has once again failed me.**

The first thing Nick noticed when Karin greeted him at her office door was that she was extraordinarily pretty. He'd talked to the agent earlier but hadn't really had a chance to admire her unbelievable beauty.

Karin was a cross between Scarlett Johansson and Christina Aguilera- an unbeatable combo. Nick was in awe. Her face was so... perfect. Her eyes were so... blue. Her flawless appearance was almost terrifying. Blonde, bodacious, and beautiful, Karin was a dream come true through any man's eyes.

_First Miley and now this girl?_ Nick thought. He was buzzing uncontrollably in delight. _This place is crawling with good-looking women._

"Hey, Nick. What's up?" Karin flashed a sparkling, toothy grin when she opened the door, forcing her guest into reality.

Karin was beyond thrilled when she found Nick had come to visit her. He was just so adorable with his tamed curly hair and narrow umber eyes. She profoundly hoped that his personality was just as good as his looks. If this were the case, Nick would be the first guy that ever worked at Glitterati that hadn't screwed Karin over.

Even though she had always assured her best friend Miley that men weren't all the same, Karin sometimes had trouble believing that herself. After umpteen failed relationships, anyone would.

First there was Rey, the seemingly charming Latin American guy with an irresistible accent and perfectly groomed hair. He worked in the office just across from Karin's so naturally the two became quite close. Their relationship was going perfectly until the day Karin came to work to find two police officers hauling her love interest out of his office in handcuffs as he screamed curses at them. Turns out the guy had a warrant out for his arrest for _arson_. Arson! Who knew? And his name actually wasn't Rey. It was Keith.

There was Bobby, the cute Italian who cheated on Karin with –not one, but- two women. The worst part was that the 'other women' were none other than Karin's own sisters.

Asher seemed like the perfect, honest, all American romantic until Karin found a bottle of Valtrex, a herpes medication, in his apartment. That same day Asher, whom she had been dating for a year, invited her to spend the night. Karin politely denied the request and, disgusted, she never spoke to the guy again.

And there was nothing really wrong with Tyler except for his odd attachment to his Pitbull Max. When Karin came over for the first time, the dog attacked her, practically tearing her arm apart. Tyler insisted that the assault was her fault. Karin hadn't even acknowledged the animal.

Men never tended to get past Karin's classy good looks. Her relationships always ended up more physical than mental, which was unfair to Karin who was actually a very sweet, intelligent woman.

But Karin had a good feeling about Nick. His face beheld a sort of reliable innocence that Karin had never seen before. She trusted him instantly. She really believed he was different.

"Miley's at a meeting and said I should come and, uh, see you." Nick explained his unexpected appearance. "Do you... need help with anything?" he squeaked.

"Sure. Come on in." Karin was beaming as she spoke pleasantly. Miley had sent Nick in! She really didn't like him after all.

Oh well, her loss.

"Sorry I'm late," Miley apologized, slamming the conference room door behind her. "My new assistant is obnoxious."

As Miley placed her purse under the table, the twelve pairs of eyes surrounding it stared back at her, thirsty for more information. Miley was obviously keeping mum. She deliberately ignored the curious executives and took a seat.

"So, David," Miley focused on a middle aged man across the table. The worldly male had been the public relations specialist for Glitterati since the management was established. "You called for this meeting. What's going on?"

Everyone sighed and opened their notepads. It was official: they wouldn't be getting the scoop on Miley's new assistant anytime soon.

"Here." Karin handed Nick a thick stack of papers. "Arrange these in alphabetical order by last name. You can pull a chair up to the other side of my desk." The blonde pointed to a nearby cushiony chair before sitting in her own.

Nick complied, and in a matter of moments he was seated no more than a couple feet from Karin.

Karin's heart was dazzling gleefully merely because Nick was so close by. She hardly knew the man and was elated by his presence. It was something she had never felt before. Was it fate? Love at first sight, perhaps? She wasn't sure of much of anything except that Nick captivated her.

Suddenly Karin felt like she was in junior high again. She fiddled with her hair, hoping it looked all right. Should she talk to Nick? Did he even like her? What was he thinking? Oh the dilemma...

Karin pretended to be engrossed with her email, but in reality the woman's mind was too cluttered with thoughts of Nick to do anything. And after five full minutes of silence she couldn't take it anymore. She just _had_ to talk to Nick whether he liked it or not.

"So, how are things going with Miley?" Karin queried indifferently as her heart pummeled her ribcage. Fortunately, her nervousness was not apparent.

Nick looked up, almost surprised to hear the belle's voice. He raised his right eyebrow. "Honestly?" he wondered.

Karin nodded, looking askance.

"I think she hates me," Nick shared even though he didn't _think_ anything. He knew Miley loathed him. It was killing him inside.

"Hates you?" Karin sounded baffled by the news but was actually quite pleased. "Why?"

Nick shrugged as he continued to sort through the pile of papers in front of him. "Beats me."

"You didn't do anything?" Karin made sure.

"Not really," said Nick.

Well, that wasn't completely true. He _had_ knocked a few pictures of off her wall and botched the whole coffee thing. But was that really a reason to hate someone? Nah.

"I wouldn't take it personally. She might be in a mad mood or something," Karin suggested. She eyed her closed office door before leaning close to Nick and adding softly: "And just between you and me, she doesn't really like men."

Nick was flabbergasted. He snapped his head up in alert. "You mean Miley's a lesbian?" he blurted out in horror.

"No!" Karin shouted. "That's not what I meant!"

Nick sighed in relief and sunk back into his chair. "Oh. I was about to say..." he trailed off.

"_What I mean is_," Karin clarified. "What I mean is that there was an incident... with a certain male assistant before you." She smiled cutely. She couldn't help it. Nick's tender reaction to the previous false blow was priceless.

Nick was promptly engaged. Karin's secretive tone indicated something juicy was ahead. "Did she... date him?"

Karin shook her head. "She was _married_ to him," she revealed with a grin.

The news came as a revelation. It was so shocking, in fact, that Nick's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "No way!"

Karin bobbed her head. "Yes way."

"No."

"Yes."

Nick shook his head in pure disbelief. He'd pretty much forgotten about the busy work he was assigned earlier. "I can't believe it."

Karin opened one of her desk drawers and began to fumble threw it. "Why does that surprise you so much?" she was curious to know.

"I don't know," Nick said. "She just doesn't seem to be the, you know, wife type." Now that he thought about it, that much was obvious.

"She isn't really," Karin agreed. She retrieved a pack of gum from her drawer and pulled out a piece. "Want some?" she offered.

"Naw, I don't like gum."

Karin dropped the package into her drawer and popped her own piece into her mouth.

Nick was still strung on Miley's past romance though Karin seemed to be so blasé' with the subject. "So what did the guy do to Miley?" he asked eagerly.

"I can't tell you," Karin said apologetically. "I'm not even supposed to be telling you what I already have. Miley will kill me if she finds out."

That was true. If Miley discovered that Karin had spilled the details of her previous marriage to her disliked assistant, she could possibly lose her job. No joke. Miley had an extremely short temper.

"Don't worry, Karin, I won't." Nick promised with a sincere smile.

Karin was bubbling in euphoria on the inside. Nick had said her name! He said it! It sounded so beautiful. They were meant to be together. She just knew it.

"What else do you know about Miley?" Nick asked avidly. He leaned in close to Karin.

Karin smirked proudly. "I know _everything_."

Miley and Glitterati financial specialist Jack Palmer had been going at it for what seemed like hours. Cruel insults were being thrown back and forth by the second, and Miley was about to explode. The argument had changed directions multiple times, but no progress had been made. It was a typical meeting at Glitterati, and it was growing tiresome.

"We do have the money, Jack! Would it kill you not to be so stubborn?" Miley yelled, slamming her fist on the table. She was raging. "Don't you think I would know a little bit about money too? I own this Goddamn place for Christ's sake!"

Jack shook his head vigorously. "You're the stubborn one! You fail to see the big picture..."

Alison Craig, an attendant of the meeting and Glitterati veteran, had grown especially bored in the past few minutes. The argument had been dragging on about nothing since the very beginning. Desperate for a source of entertainment, the redhead turned to Dara Chang, the woman next to her, and tapped on her shoulder.

Upon capturing her friend's attention Alison whispered, "Hey, have you seen Miley's new assistant?" Her eyes twinkled.

Dara nodded, smiling. "He's gorgeous," she raved.

"I know!" Alison agreed zealously. "I wonder why Miley doesn't like him." She eyed her boss, who was screaming out of her mind. She seemed like the obnoxious one. Not Nick as she had said earlier.

"Miley doesn't like anyone," Dara pointed out softly. She paused. "He's not mean at all."

Alison was impressed. She lifted an eyebrow. "You've talked to him?"

Gratified, Dara inclined her head one more. "I gave him directions to Starbucks this morning," she breathed. "He's new to New York."

"Is he single?" Alison wondered aloud. She was jealous of her friend and couldn't wait for her chance to talk to the enticing new addition to Glitterati.

Dara shrugged. "I have no clue," she admitted.

Alison nodded in understanding, and shifted her attention back to the public quarrel that was now coming to a close.

"Tell me more," Nick pleaded, leaning closer to Karin. "Please."

Nick wanted to know everything he could about Miley, his latest infatuation. The information might help to positively develop their relationship.

Karin felt pretty bad for her selfish exploitation of her best friend, but guys made her do stupid things. They always had, and Nick was no exception. Besides, the feeling of flattery Karin accomplished was much stronger than the feeling of guilt she endured. And on top of that, she trusted Nick.

"Well," Karin began to disclose another fact about Miley. "I know that-"

Before she could get any further a high-pitched beeping noise punctured the room. It was her intercom.

_Damn it_, Karin cursed the machine. It was ruining her one-on-one time with Nick. Trying not to let her disappointment show, Karin reluctantly pressed a button to answer the call.

"Yes?" she said impatiently without taking her eyes off of Nick.

"Karin, your eleven o'clock his here," Stacey informed her on the other end of the line.

Aw, shoot. The agent had completely forgotten about her appointment today with one of her clients. She peeked at the clock. It was 11:01. There was no way she could wait any longer.

"Tell them I'll be ready in a moment," Karin sighed and raised her finger from the device.

Nick appeared disappointed. Karin felt the same way. "You're going to have to go," she told Nick unwillingly. "Sorry."

"When can we talk again?" Nick asked.

Karin pondered the question. It would be impossible to have any time with Nick today with her busy Friday schedule. But after work...

The woman grabbed one of her business cards from the end of her desk. On the back of it she scribbled her cell number with a nearby pen.

"Call me," she said to Nick, grinning.

"I will," he promised. He got out of his seat and headed towards the door. But before exiting, he turned and made an apology. "Sorry I didn't finish organizing those papers."

Karin waved it off. "Don't worry about it."

Nick had already done enough by simply supplying his attention.

Nick arrived back at Miley's office, whistling and cheerful, at just about the same time as she did. But the brunette was anything but jolly.

"What's wrong with you?" Nick interrogated Miley as he followed her into her headquarters.

She stormed to her desk, slamming her purse atop it. "Everything," she told him. "I can't believe it. I just can't believe it. You hire people, you give them enough money to burn, and they just throw everything back in your face."

Nick eyed Miley as she roughly flounced about the room. "Care to expand?" he asked.

"Not to you," she jeered, subsiding into her chair.

Nick sneered in agreement. "Fine then."

"Good." Miley picked right back up where she'd left off before her meeting, sorting through resumes.

Nick sighed and began to wander around the office with nothing to do. He didn't ask Miley for a job because he figured that if she needed something, she would ask for it. Instead, he tried to strike up a conversation.

"So, I talked to Karin. She's nice," he informed her with a positive nod.

"I know that. She's my bestfriend," Miley growled as if the fact should have been obvious.

Nick grinned. Karin and Miley were close? This would be a perfect time to find out if Miley was sensitive when dealt the jealousy card, he decided. "I got her phone number." Nick sing-songed as he waved the small card for Miley to see.

Miley snapped. "Why are you telling me this?" she asked, salty.

"I thought you might want to know, since she's your best friend and all." Nick shrugged innocently. That was a good reason, right?

"Well I don't," Miley notified him.

Eh, guess it wasn't such a good reason after all.

"So, you used to be married?" Nick quickly asked Miley before she could return to her work.

Miley slowly narrowed her eyes at her assistant. Her face reddened in fury. Obviously the subject was still a sore spot for the businesswoman, but Nick didn't care as long as he had her attention.

"Who told you that?" Miley demanded. "Was it Karin?"

Nick bit his lip. Snap, he wasn't supposed to even know this stuff. And he'd promised Karin that he wouldn't sell her out. He had to think on his toes, which was something he was good at, fortunately.

"No. I read it on the internet," he lied.

"Where on the internet?" Miley was infuriated. Whatever the website was, she was prepared to get on the phone and have it shut down that instant. Nobody was supposed to know the details of her marriage. It was confidential.

"Some lame gossip site," Nick told her cautiously. "I don't remember what it was called."

Miley groaned, throwing her head into her hands. This day could not get any worse. And it wasn't even noon yet.

"But is it true?" Nick questioned. "Were you married?"

Miley looked up at Nick. Her eyes were fiery. She wanted nothing more than to punch Nick in the face. Knowing that wasn't possible without losing her job, she did the next best thing. She screamed at him.

"Yes, you moron! It's true!" she yelled so loudly that her voice could be heard in the lobby.

Nick seemed unfazed by Miley's sudden outburst. He loved the way she looked when she was mad. It was beyond attractive. "Well what happened? Why aren't you married anymore?" he asked.

"Because!" Miley shrieked. "He was a douchebag! And if you ask me one more thing about him, I'll make sure you never set foot into this building again. Got it, Gray?" she added through gritted teeth.

"Got it." He shot her a thumbs-up.

Oh, how he loved that woman. If she was this aggressive on a daily basis, he wondered how she was in bed.

He was sure that he would find out soon. It could only be a matter of time before Miley warmed up to him.

**Oh, Nick you're such a perve! Jeez.**

**(And just for the record there won't be any sex scenes in this story. And if you have a problem with that then you're just as pervy as Nick. Just kidding. Kinda...)**

**If you favorite or subscribe to this store please review it and tell me what you liked about it. The reviews really brighten by day. (:**

**I'll try to update again before I go back to school on Monday, but I can't make any promises. I'll try my best!**


	3. Chapter 3

Alison Craig carefully applied her soft pink lipstick, adjusted her outfit over her petite figure, and finger combed her ruby curls.

God, how she hated her red corkscrews. How in hell did she end up with perfectly _red_ hair? No one on either side of her family had red hair; only she did. It wasn't fair, but it was something she would have to live with because she was just too scared to dye it completely. Her facial features matched her natural hair color, and anything too drastic would do her no good.

But, keeping that in mind, Alison _had_ gone a little crazy with highlights and lowlights. She'd tried to spice up her do with some blonde streaks as well as a few brown touches. The results were worse than the original product. Her hair pretty much looked like a giant fireball, and she'd blown all her money to do it. Until Miley agreed to raise Alison's salary, her hair was stuck as it was.

The woman didn't have time to ponder upon it for too long because she was in a time crunch. Just a few minutes earlier Alison had just "happened" to be walking by Miley's office and just "happened" to notice that Nick was preparing to leave for the day. She took a note of this, and it was then that she realized this would be a fantastic opportunity to talk to the stud.

So it was decided; Alison would just "happen" to be walking past Miley's office at just the same time Nick was leaving...but not before a quick beauty refreshment in the bathroom.

Alison crept to the bathroom door and cracked it opened with wary. She had the perfect view of Miley's office from her position. Nick was still packing his things up, so _she_ still had time. Alison also noticed that Miley, the witch herself, was nowhere in sight. The scenario couldn't get any more perfect!

As time passed, the fiery redhead's heart began to quicken in pace. How exactly was she going to do this? Would she seem like a stalker if she just walked up to him? Should she drop something as she walked passed? No, that was lame.

Alison cracked the door again. Nick was just heading out of Miley's office. She had to act fast. It was now or never!

After taking a few deep breaths and shaking herself loose, Alison tried her best to casually slip out of the women's restroom. Nick was humming cheerfully as he exited Miley's office, and as he neared Alison, she felt her heart melt. By God, he was even more gorgeous up close. She had to have him.

Just like that she was speechless. She had no idea what to say or do at all. Nick's striking appearance was too overwhelming. She began to panic.

_Wow_, was all she could think, _I look like a complete idiot. Why am I just standing here?_

"Whoa."

Startled, Alison nearly stumbled backwards but mercifully caught her balance. Who had said that? Could it have been-

"Wow," the same voice marveled again. Alison was sure to be paying attention this time, and by golly, it really was Nick who was talking.

She looked up at his beautiful face- his flawless skin and perfect dark curls. He was like a God sent from heaven. And he was talking to her! Wait... he was talking to her, right?

"You talking to me?" Alison asked as calmly as she could.

Nick nodded but didn't say anything, leaving his admirer confused. Was he going to expand or what?

"You're hair... is awesome," he finally said in wonderment. "Seriously."

Alison grinned from ear to ear. Not only had Nick spoken to her on his own, he had complimented her. He must be interested, right?

Alison could never be too sure about anything with men. Shamefully, she had little experience with the opposite sex at all. In high school she was so awkward- skinny figure, braces, and a flat chest. She had maybe one boyfriend, and it wasn't even that serious.

As she grew older -and prettier-, more men were attracted to Alison. The problem was that she didn't know what to say in those situations. She always seemed to scare them off with difficult small talk or something. She was brave to even think about talking to Nick in the first place.

Even so, Nick seemed less scary. His warm smile and appearance were inviting. She felt kind of comfortable around him. Especially since he had commented positively on her hair, her most disliked trait. She was glowing inside.

"Um, thanks..." Alison answered nervously. "I was thinking about dying it back all red, but..." (Pft. As if she would do anything to her hair after Nick acclaimed it.)

"No, don't." Nick disagreed. "It looks kind of like something exploded on your head."

Alison looked skeptical.

"But in a good way," said Nick. "It's cool."

"Yeah..." Alison was addled as her eyes darted around the room, purposely avoiding Nick's.

_Say something, you idiot!_ Her conscious screamed. But she felt almost paralyzed.

"Well," Nick said, breaking the tense silence, "see you around."

And with that, Alison's crush resumed his humming and vanished around the corner.

Fail. Epic fail.

"Oh my God. Do you see her? She looks so dumb." Karin Jamison told Dara Chang.

They were watching from a distance as their fellow colleague Alison totally bombed her conversation with Nick.

Dara nodded, peering at the redhead. "She was talking to me about him in a meeting today."

Karin twirled her ponytail around her finger and then released it. "She's wasting her time. I'm already talking to him," Karin sneered.

"Talking to him?" Dara questioned dubiously. "Like _talking_, talking to him?"

Karin cracked her gum and nodded. "I got his number. So yeah, I guess." She watched as Nick and Alison parted ways. Alison's face looked like mush. "Just tell your friend to back off, okay?"

"Aye, aye, captain." Dara rolled her eyes.

"I mean it."

"We'll see."

Jealousy brought out the worst in Karin, and as mentioned before, so did guys. Smash them both together and Karin was one hell of a nightmare. Poor Alison didn't know what she was getting into.

When Monday came around, things were noticeably quieter at Glitterati. The mailroom wasn't as flooded, the waiting room wasn't as crowded, and the people that worked there were well rested.

Miley's office was the only exception to the quietude.

Nick was chomping loudly on some sort of chips he'd gotten from the vending machine. Because she had a lot to do, Miley overlooked this. Such behavior was only expected from Nick. It was his excessive talking that was getting on her nerves.

"It's supposed to snow on Friday," Nick reported. He was staring out of Miley's window, examining the beautiful New York morning cityscape.

"I don't care," Miley said flatly.

Nick shoved a chip into his mouth. "It's supposed to be a lot. Like five inches or something," he said through a mouthful.

Miley spun her eyes from her desk. "I said I don't care."

"Don't you like snow?" Nick asked curiously.

Miley sighed, still staring down at her work. "No."

"You don't like anything, do you?" Nick plunged his hand into his chip bag.

"Not really."

"Why not?" Nick asked. His voice was coated lightly in disbelief.

"What's to like?" Miley said defensively. "The world is a screwed up place. Do you know how many people were murdered last year in New York alone? Do you?"

"Uh, no..." Nick was confused by where Miley was taking this conversation.

"700," Miley told him. "That's almost 2 per day. And that's just a fraction of the crimes that go on here. There's rape, burglary, arson... But people just expect things to get better in time. Well, they're not going to. They're getting worse. I deal with it, but that doesn't mean I like it." Miley caught her breath as she concluded.

Nick was taken by surprise after hearing Miley's strong cynical opinion. It was intriguing to him though. Nick had been surrounded by happy-go-lucky people his whole life. He'd never met anyone who thought like Miley at all. It was reasons like this that Nick was attracted to her. She was different. She electrified his life.

"Well then," Nick said, "I'm sorry that you feel that way."

"_Sorry_?" Miley practically snarled. "Don't you dare be sorry for me, Gray. I would feel sorry for you, but then again, I don't really like you."

"Why would you feel sorry for me?" Nick asked inquisitively. "That is, if you liked me." He winked.

Miley put down her pen. She was completely distracted from her work by that point. "Listen. I don't know you very well, but from what I can tell, you're pretty easygoing when it comes to most things," she explained disapprovingly.

"Oh?" Nick raised an eyebrow.

"Take Friday for example. You totally botched the coffee thing. You thought I might want to try something new. Someone clearly told you what kind of coffee I get every morning, but you decided to ignore it. I could have easily fired you; I should have. The point is, you just do things without thinking about the consequences. You don't set boundaries for yourself. You don't step back and think about what effects your choices project onto your future."

"That's not how I see it," Nick said.

"What other way is there to see it?" Miley was growing exasperated.

Nick shrugged. "You only live once," he said.

"No kidding." Miley rolled her eyes.

"So, why don't you make the best of your only life? Why don't you take advantage of everything that's thrown at you? If _my _assistant had brought me the wrong kind of coffee, I would have thanked them for giving me the opportunity to try something new."

Miley eyed Nick doubtfully. "So, if someone told you to jump off a bridge, you would take that opportunity?"

Nick sighed. "Why does everyone say that? Of course I wouldn't jump off a bridge. I'm trying to make my life more exciting, not end it."

"You just said you take advantage of everything that's thrown at you," Miley pointed out. "Maybe that's not the best idea after all," she hissed sarcastically.

"That's how I learn things. That's how I get through life," Nick informed his boss.

"Gray, do you think I got to where I am today by jumping off bridges?" Miley asked sharply.

"I wouldn't jump off a bridge, okay?" Nick clarified loudly.

Miley put a hand up to express her lack of concern. "Whatever. I'm just saying, you can't get through life by acting like a moron."

"I don't act like a moron," Nick protested.

"I beg to differ." Miley picked up her pen again.

Nick ignored the jab, and turned back towards the window. "Just think about what I said," he requested nonchalantly.

Miley didn't answer. She had already returned to her work.

Nick's heart was still racing from the heated debate he and Miley had just had. She had insulted him the whole time, but hey, it was a start. He loved talking to Miley no matter what she said. He wished he could spend more time with her. Speaking of that...

"Hey, what are you doing tonight?" Nick suddenly asked Miley, shoving their previous conversation aside.

"I don't know, but it doesn't involve you." Miley's harsh decline was spoken with casualty.

"What am I supposed to do tonight then?" Nick asked, hoping Miley would give in.

"I don't know. Go jump off a bridge."

On Monday morning, Alison was still quite shaken by her encounter with Nick. She had dwelled on it the entire weekend. How stupid did she really look? Had Nick thought about her after he walked away? Should she talk to him again? So many questions, so little time.

So, there she was in her office minding her own business. Things seemed to be going pretty well so far. Nothing major had happened. The skies were clear. Tension was down. The mood throughout the building was very chill.

And then there was a knock on the door. Thinking nothing of it, Alison got out of her chair and went to answer it.

When she saw Karin standing before her, smiling that perfect smile of hers, she then knew something was up.

"Are you doing anything this weekend?" Miley looked up at Nick who grinned wildly.

"So you changed your mind, huh?" he asked flirtatiously, shooting Miley a corny thumbs up. "Well I dunno. I'll have to see if I can pencil you in..." The wink that followed Nick's scornful statement was exaggerated.

Miley looked disgusted. "I don't actually care what you're doing."

Nick was unconvinced. "Then why did you ask," he teased her, "if you weren't interested?"

"Because there's a model showcase in Las Vegas this Saturday," Miley explained as she examined her calendar, "I'm going to it which means, unfortunately, you are too." She frowned.

"What if I have something to do? You can't plan my life before asking me first," Nick remarked.

"Please." Miley rolled her eyes. "As if _you_ have anything to do this weekend. And besides, I can do anything I want. You're my assistant," Miley informed him.

"Well what if I really did have something to do?" Nick rose theoretically. "And it was really important. Then what?"

Miley shrugged. "Tough."

Nick nodded slowly as he analyzed the situation. "I guess it wouldn't be such a bad way to spend the weekend. Me and you in a plane for six hours...together." The more Nick thought about it, the better the idea sounded.

"Oh my god." Miley shook her head. "Don't talk about it. You're making me sick."

"Don't worry," Nick assured Miley with a smirk. "I'm a good plane buddy."

"I can only imagine," Miley jeered.

Even though she was pretty, Karin was intimidating when she wanted to be. Even the way she smiled at Alison was scary. The way she stood at her doorway frightening. Alison's stomach dropped at the mere sight of her. What had she done wrong? She didn't even know Karin.

"Hey Alison," Karin purred, looking down at the small redhead before her.

"Hi," Alison squeaked, subtly inching away from the tall blonde. Seriously, what was going on?

"So, I heard you were interested in Nick," said Karin, nodding.

Alison should have known this was about Nick. Crap! She never should have talked to him in the first place. But it wasn't even her fault. Nick talked to _her,_ and she didn't even say very much back. It's not like she had-

"Hello?" Karin waved a hand in front of Alison. "So are you interested?"

Alison spit out the first thing that came to her head. "Nope."

"Good." Karin smiled in acceptance. Alison had obviously given the right answer. "I was just wondering. I'm already kind of talking to him. I didn't want there to be _any_ confusion." Her voice was so friendly that it was alarming.

"Yeah..." Alison was unsure of what to say.

"Alright then. See you." Karin waved goodbye, and disappeared from Alison's sight.

What the hell just happened?

**Question: Who is your favorite character so far? Tell me in your reviews... or else. No pressure or anything. I'm gonna have to go with Miley just because she tells it how it is.**

**See you soon. Don't jump off any bridges!**


	4. Chapter 4

Although it wasn't common, sometimes Miley felt _different_ when she entered her apartment after work. Perhaps different is too broad of a term. It was an unwelcome feeling of emptiness in both her stomach and her entire penthouse. It made her cold, led her to shivers. It caused an uncomfortable lump to develop in the back of her throat.

Tuesday night was one of the times she felt this way.

And Miley hated to admit it, but sometimes, just sometimes, she wondered if things would be different if she'd never met... _him_.

No, no. Her life would probably be the same. _He_ had no effect on her. _He _had never had control over her. _He_ was nothing but a stupid ex-husband. Just a stupid, worthless piece of trash. That's all he'd ever be.

Really though? Was that all he was? Because she sure did spend a whole lot of time with him for being just a worthless piece of nothing. The monthly trips to Cabo San Lucas, the fancy dinner dates every night, and cozy evenings by the fire place- but he was just a piece of crap.

Thinking about this made Miley sick. She collapsed onto her couch without even taking off her coat or shoes, drained from her retrospective musing. How did she not see it? How did she not see it coming? How could the person that snatched away her ability to love, her capacity a to feel, and her potential to trust be so damn slick?

Oh well. Guys like _him_ didn't come with warning labels. It was too late to change anything now.

Okay, this was getting ridiculous. Could it be possible that there was one woman on the planet that didn't find Nick to be charming? Because it sure seemed like it. At first, Miley's snide comments were excusable. Nick was certain that his boss would loosen up eventually. But no. In the four days that he had known Miley, she'd done nothing but criticize Nick.

W...T...F?

This is all that Nick could think about Tuesday evening.

It made no sense. Karin was practically down Nick's throat already, and Miley hadn't even batted an eyelash at him. He hadn't gotten any action since he'd moved to New York, and he wasn't getting any younger.

And then there was Karin. Maybe he should just settle with her for the moment. She seemed easy enough. In fact, she hadn't stopped flirting with Nick since the minute she laid eyes on him. Not to mention she was hot, full figured, hot, blonde, hot...

Nick stopped himself. He wasn't one to 'hit it and quit it.' Not anymore at least. That was something the Old Nick would have done. But the Old Nick was gone now. New Nick ditched him in Texas and fled to New York to get a fresh start.

New Nick was a lot different.

Old Nick: perve

New Nick: still a perve

Old Nick: player

New Nick: undecided?

Old Nick: immature

New Nick: still immature

Old Nick: lived in Texas

New Nick: lived in New York

Fine. New Nick wasn't that different. But that didn't really matter.

Who was he kidding? It _so_ mattered. Maybe he should just give up and go back to his old ways. Frustrated, Nick retrieved his phone from his pocket, and was scrolling through his contacts in search of Karin's number when he stopped himself. He couldn't do it.

Why? What was wrong with him? His conscious had never gotten in the way of his relationships before? Why now?

_Just text her! _he told himself, _It'll be quick, easy, and painless. And she's in love with you. Do it._

But, no matter how hard he tried, Nick couldn't bring himself to text Karin. She was just so interested in him. It was creepy at times and convenient at others. Either way, he didn't want to lead her on too much. He hardly knew Karin; therefore, he had little interest in her at the moment. There was definitely a physical attraction there but that was something only the old Nick would take as reason enough to pursue a woman.

Nick began to think some more. Was action really all he wanted from Miley too? Yeah, she was extremely alluring in her own unique way, but could there possibly be something more that Nick saw in her? She was highly successful, something Nick found incredibly admirable. She obviously had a passion for the entertainment business, which was pretty sweet, and she was exceedingly smart...

It was odd. He'd never felt that way about anyone. Maybe she would be worth it in the end.

Nick selected Miley's name from his contact list, and a new screen appeared on his Blackberry: a box containing a blinking curser.

What would he text to Miley? He didn't really have much to talk about with her. In an attempt to be methodical, Nick began to type possible conversation starters into the message field. When he was finished, he stared at his phone and tried to decide which opener he should use.

He began to think deeper. And then it occurred: to him: Why would Miley even reply to his text? This was stupid to even be considering. He saved the message as a draft, shocked with himself. This was the first time he could remember being intimidated like this.

He put his phone down.

Just then, Nick's newly purchased puppy appeared into his sight. He scampered over to the couch where Nick had been seated and jumped into his lap. The Yorkie looked ridiculous. He had just gotten his "operation," and was sporting a plastic funnel around his neck.

Nick suddenly had envy for the animal.

"You're so lucky, boy." Nick patted the dog on its head. "You'll never have to face the decision of love... and lust."

Nick yawned. He was tired from lack of sleep the previous night.

"Did I tell you it was going to"-_Yawn_- "snow on Friday?" he asked Miley Wednesday afternoon.

He had been assisting her while she cleaned out her cluttered desk area. Its contents were covering her floor, making it impossible to walk further than within a five foot radius of it.

Miley answered flatly; her voice was hardly audible. "Yes."

Nick frowned. Miley's short response was just another reminder that she despised him. This brought back memoires of his deep thoughts about her the previous evening. With it also came the intense frustration he also endured.

He just had to ask.

"Why do you hate me so much?" he blurted out. "Everybody else likes me around here. Why not you?"

The question obviously caught Miley's attention because she looked up at Nick when she heard it. But even so, her facial expression was totally neutral. "That's kind of irrelevant don't you think?"

"Not to me," said Nick. "I don't think it is."

Miley tried to think of good reason for hating Nick; she really did. But she couldn't think of _anything_- anything worth hating someone for.

He annoyed her. But how? Because he tried to make conversation with her? She couldn't say that. Because he wasn't scared of her? That wouldn't be appropriate either.

Baffled, she just spit out the first lame comeback she could think of. "Why do you care so much?" she snapped, slapping a desk drawer shut.

"I just wanna know. People have _always _liked me, and you don't. It... it bothers me." He explained in the best way that he could.

With every point Nick brought up, Miley was running out of things to say. That was not cool. She was heating up, actually. "It doesn't matter, does it? It's not like we're going to spend the rest of our lives together! We just work together. _That's it_."

Nick paused, mentally debating if he should say what he really felt. Aw, to hell with it. "What if weren't though? What if you were... you know... more?"

A smile crept onto Miley's face. Something more? She and Nick? Ha! That had to be a joke.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Not really."

"That would never happen," she admitted plainly. "It would never work out."

"How do you know?" he asked defensively.

Miley reached into one of her drawers and slapped a handful of junk onto her desk. "You're not my type." Duh. That much was obvious.

"Well what is your-" Nick started to ask a question, but his attention was captured by one of the new items on Miley's desk. "Who's that?"

He grabbed a warn, wallet size photo of a handsome, important-looking man from the surface. He looked a bit older than Miley and had perfectly styled hair and a shiny smile. As Nick examined the picture, a bell went off in his head.

"Is this your ex hus-" He was cut off before he could complete his inquiry.

Just like that, Miley ripped the photo away from Nick. She was suddenly anxious. "Don't touch my things!" she loudly demanded.

Nick was confused. "I've been touching your things all morning..."

There was a knock at the door before Miley could respond. Thank God. "Come in!" Miley quickly yelled.

Karin cracked open the door and poked her head in. When she say the discomfort on Miley's face she asked, "Um, am I interrupting something...?"

"Not at all," Miley assured her.

Karin was unconvinced, but continued anyway. "Somebody's here to see you, Nick."

"To see me?" Nick asked, puzzled. Why would someone come all the way to his work just to see him? That was odd. He hardly knew anyone in New York. He began to worry.

Karin only nodded. Nick hesitated.

"What are you waiting for? Go!" Miley said hastily.

Nick left the room. The door shut. Miley collapsed into her seat in relief.

"That was close," she muttered under her breath, looking at the picture she had seized from Nick.

Damn. Why were most evil men also the most gorgeous?

Karin led Nick into the lobby, but, to his surprise, there was no one in sight. He did a 360. Still no one.

"There wasn't really visitor," Karin clarified with a sly smile. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"Oh," Nick said, not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed. He hesitated before speaking. "So... what did you need then?" he wondered.

Karin giggled like a little girl. Nick observed her. He couldn't help but notice that she looked even more attractive than usual today. Her long hair was down and pinned out of her face. The white blouse/skirt combination she was wearing hugged her curves perfectly, showed off her legs that seemed to last for miles, and-

"Nick, you okay?" Karin giggled again.

Nick cleared his throat, blushing. "Oh... uh... yeah." Something like that.

Why was her face so perfectly structured? Why was her body so voluptuous? Why was she standing so close? Karin was doing this on purpose. Really? Who could be that hot by accident? How was he supposed to de-playerize himself with her around? She was interfering his flow, throwing off his groove.

Karin batted her eyelashes. Nick looked away, his eye twitching. It was just too much for him. _You can look but you can't touch._

"So, I was just wondering..." she started.

Wondering what? If he was dead yet?

"If you wanted to come with me to lucnh? I mean if you want. I don't know if you're busy or something. It's okay..." She sounded kind of nervous, but not for real.

She bit her lip. Goddammit.

Nick tried to think it through. He usually lunch in the cafeteria on the main floor anyway, so that wasn't the problem. The problem was that it was quite possible that if he went to coffee with Karin, he would never be able to escape his old ways.

But what about Miley? Didn't he decide last night that he wasn't going to give up on her? That she was 'the one?' She definitely was more interesting to be around, but Karin was nice to look at...

And what if it turned out that Karin actually had a desirable personality? If not, she could be an option if by chance he was really desperate one night. It was a win-win situation.

Why the hell not?

He yawned. "Yeah, that's sounds..." -Nick paused, trying to select an appropriate adjective- "nice?" he finished uncertainly. "Yeah, nice."

Karin beamed cutely in satisfaction, twirling a blonde strand of hair around her finger. "Awesome. Meet me in my office at one?" she offered.

Nick agreed with a nervous nod. "Yep."

The two parted ways. Karin winked flirtatiously as they separated. She hadn't gotten very far before she noticed fire-headed Alison peering at Karin out of her own office. As the blonde walked by, Alison tried to shut herself away- but not quick enough.

"And that's how you do that," Karin whispered to her, flashing a wicked smile.

Bitch.

Nick was interrupted on his way to his own destination as well. A man stopped Nick in his tracks, gripping him by the shoulders and pulling him aside.

"Look. I don't know you very well, but can I give you some advice? You know, man to man?"

Nick was confused. He recognized the guy before him as Ryan, a Glitterati agent. It was very true that the two were unfamiliar with each other. Nick had never said a word to Ryan in his life.

"Um, sure?" Nick replied, dumbfounded.

"I know it's none of my business, really, but I saw you talking to Karin," Ryan continued.

Nick nodded.

By the solemn look on his face, Ryan seemed to be carefully choosing his words. "Just don't get involved with her, okay?" he finally spit out. "I've been working here for a long time. I see what goes on. Karin is... I don't know. She likes to screw with people, cling on to them. You seem like a nice guy. I'm just trying to help you out."

To be honest, Nick had no idea what Ryan said. It all happened too fast. Something about Karin, was it? Whatever. He was too tired to care.

"Yeah," said Nick. He wasn't entirely sure if that was an appropriate response.

"Just lookin' out for you, man," said Ryan. That was the last thing he said to Nick before patting him on the shoulder and going on his way.

"What did Karin want?" Miley asked Nick upon his return.

Nick shut the door behind him. "She asked me to lunch. I said yes."

"So, you guys are actually a thing now?" Miley inquired skeptically from behind her desk.

Nick smirked. "That's kind of irrelevant," he told Miley, quoting her from earlier. He noticed the woman rolling her eyes, and added, "Why do you care so much? I thought you didn't like me."

"I don't!" Miley shot back. She was trying to keep her composure, but there was no hiding the red stains of embarrassment on her cheeks. "She's a good friend of mine. I just wanted to know, so don't flatter yourself."

Nick shrugged. "I think it's logical for me to assume you care."

"Don't assume anything," Miley snapped, a hint of discomfort still on her face.

"Are you sure you don't care? Maybe just a little bit?" Nick asked, holding his thumb and index fingers just millimeters apart.

"Positive," his boss assured him before quickly changing subjects. "Now did you make the hotel reservations last night like I asked you?"

"Yep. And I forwarded the confirmation email to you- just like you said."

Miley nodded in approval. Had Nick just done something right? It was a miracle!

"That reminds me!" Nick abruptly exclaimed. "I need to ask you something."

"What?"

"I need to bring my dog to work tomorrow." He was straight up. "It's urgent."

Miley looked up at him incredulously. "Ha! That's a good one!"

Nick started to protest. "I know its kind of stupid but-"

"_Very_ stupid," Miley corrected.

"-but I have to get him to the kennel before we leave. It's not open early enough for me to drop him off in the morning, and it's not late enough for me to go all the way back to my apartment before dropping him off. He'll be in a cage and everything."

Miley still had no sympathy. "Sucks."

Luckily, though, Nick came prepared for this. He reached into his pocket and removed a green bill.

He waved it in Miley's face. "Ben Franklin thought it was a good idea..." Nick shrugged innocently. "But oh well."

Miley's eyes followed the hundred-dollar bill's movements from side to side. She cursed herself. She was expecting important visitors at the office the next day. But the money... _Was her biggest weakness that obvious?_

She finally couldn't take it anymore. She snatched the money. "Gray... if I hear as much as a peep from your dog I swear to God-"

Elated, Nick gladly handed over the money. "Don't worry about it. Gato is really well behaved."

"What did you just say its name was?" Miley asked, stuffing the bill into her nearby purse.

"Gato," he answered nonchalantly.

"What the hell kind of name is that?"

"It means cat in Spanish."

"I thought it was a dog?" said a very confused Miley.

Nick clarified, "It is."

Miley stared at her assistant in astonishment. "Wow. Just... wow." She shook her head.

"What?" Nick was puzzled. "What's so weird about that?"

Miley rolled her eyes and grumbled, "Nothing. Absolutely _nothing_."

Nick arrived on time to Karin's office to leave for their lunch... thing. Nick didn't want to call it a date until he saw how things turned out. He hadn't really talked to her much, but he wanted to give her a try in case things really didn't end up working out with Miley. (Pffft!)

On the other hand, Karin was taking the lunch extremely seriously. She had spent a whole twenty minutes in the bathroom re-primping for the big afternoon. If things went well, she would be well on the road to marrying Nick and eventually dying with him. It was a big deal.

Karin felt jittery as she they left the office building. Nick yawned.

"So, where shall we go?" Karin asked eagerly. A snowflake danced from the grayish sky and landed in her light hair.

Nick took a few seconds to examine his surroundings. He pointed across the street. "Wanna hit Mickey D's? I'm kind of short on cash and stuff. So... yeah."

McDonalds? Karin was flabbergasted. She wasn't expected their lunch to be at a five star restaurant, but _Mc-fucking-Donalds_? By no stretch of the imagination was that fast food restaurant remotely romantic.

Karin tried to calm herself. She took deep breaths and tried to forget the fact that everything on the menu at McDonalds was fattening; she tried to disregard the fact that this lunch was basically the beginning of the rest of her life.

Who was she kidding? She used to love McDonalds as a kid. That was until it totally ruined her life and made her-

Nick filled Karin's baffling silence. "And Miley told me to pick her something up there."

(That wasn't helping. Why was everyone so obsessed with Miley? Ugh! Miley this, Miley that. Whatever. That wasn't the point.)

It was then that she started to think about things more rationally. She thought about all her past relationships and compared them to the potential one with Nick. If his only flaw was that he enjoyed cheap, waistline expanding, greasy, disgusting McDonalds... maybe it wasn't so bad after all.

"Yeah, that's fine," she eventually agreed, trying to sound as excited as possible.

And with that they were off.

Upon entering the fast food joint, Nick and Karin took their place at the end of the line. It was extremely long considering 1) they were in New York and 2) it was lunch hour, but the line seemed to be moving quickly.

Karin immedietly decided that she hated everything on the menu. She hadn't been to the place in years. It was funny how much her opinion toward it had changed. She didn't want to offend Nick by not eating, so she decided on some sort of salad and a diet coke.

From the corner of her eye, Karin caught Nick pulling a sticky note from his coat pocket. Overcome with curiosity, she glanced at the paper to learn its significance. She read the words, written in her closest friend's familiar handwriting, at the top and cringed.

_Miley's Order_

She wanted to like Miley; she really did, but sometimes it was hard. Especially in situations like these where she was being brought up in her lunch date and ruining it without even trying. So maybe Nick was _Miley's_ assistant. But still.

The pair was nearing the front of the line. Karin mentally finalized her order. She recited it to Nick when he asked her to just seconds later.

"Ah, the salad. Healthy eater, huh Karin?" Nick observed with a smile.

Actually she wasn't _that_ healthy. She hated salads. She only ordered it because ordering anything else on the menu would be the equivalent of someone stabbing her in the heart. Or cutting her open and pouring a tub of salt into her blood. But why did Nick need to know that? So, she replied with a grin and by saying, "I guess you could say that."

Karin pretty much blanked out as Nick ordered their lunches. That is, until he asked her something that almost pushed her off the edge. If it were anyone besides Nick that she was with, she definitely would have already crossed that line.

"Shoot. Can I borrow a dollar, Kare? I'm short."

Karin read the price that appeared on the register: $9.98. Nick didn't even bring ten measly dollars? He really hadn't taken this seriously, had he?

For the second time in the last fifteen minutes, Karin had to work to calm herself. Maybe Nick had planned on taking more than eight bucks; he just forgot the money at his desk. _Yeah, let's go with that_, she thought.

And as she fished through her purse for wallet, she tried to concentrate on more pleasant things like Nick's abnormally perfect facial structure and his use of the pet name "Kare."

She flipped open her wallet and retrieved a dollar. During the time she did this and the time that she put it away, Nick noticed, "You spell your name with a K... and with an I-N?" He had been reading off of her driver's license.

As Nick pointed this out, Karin's thought process was something along the lines of: SDFGHJKLRTYQWIO! WTF?

Karin couldn't hide her feeling anymore. Unconsciously she snapped, "You didn't know how to spell my name?"

"Sorry?" Nick apologized.

Karin regretted being so harsh, but she couldn't help it. She handed Nick the bill.

"Thanks." He took it from her.

"Yeah."

It was when Nick took the receipt from the cashier that Karin realized she had just contributed in paying for Miley's lunch. Lovely.

Meanwhile, Dara poked her head into Miley's office. "Hey, is Nick here?"

Miley, who had been hanging her newly framed Britney Spears photo, looked over at her visitor. "No, he went to lunch with Karin. Why?" she asked.

"_Karin?_" Dara repeated, her voice dripping with disgust. She had been angry with that woman since Alison had reported her childish comments. Recalling that Miley and Karin were close, Dara tried to be more composed before she spoke again. "I mean... are they together now or something?"

"Don't know. Don't care."

Dara was foolish to expect Miley to give her an answer worth a crap. Whatever.

"Oh. Well, I found this phone in the hall. I'm pretty sure its his." Dara held out her hand and revealed a silver Blackberry.

Miley motioned her over. "Bring it here."

Dara complied, and handed Miley the phone. It was definitely Nick's. She had seen him with it on multiple occasions. "Yeah, it's his. I'll give it to him." Miley nodded. "Thanks."

"Yep," Dara replied only moments before vanishing from the room.

"Wow. Miley's the opposite of you. Check out what she got." Nick slid a McDonalds bag toward Karin. They had just managed to score a table.

Karin took a look inside and saw a Big Mac and fries. That didn't surprise Karin at all. Miley ate whatever she wanted. With her busy lifestyle, fast food was a big part of her diet.

"I've never met a chick that eats as much as she does. How does she stay in such great shape?" Nick wondered.

Karin's concealed a groan as she realized that Nick was once again talking about Miley –praising her even. She took action by quickly putting the spotlight on him instead.

"I guess she's just got a good metabolism. How do you stay in good shape?" she smiled as irresistibly as she could, lifting one corner of her mouth and not the other. She wanted to be sure that the rest of the day's conversation's stayed a million miles away from Miley.

Nick's face was starting to get hot. "Um... I don't know. I work out sometimes, I guess." Nervous, he stuffed a handful of fries into his mouth.

"I can tell," she told him.

Nick was blushing wildly now. Now that he thought about it, it was nice to have someone compliment him after being verbally assaulted for eight hours a day. And it didn't hurt that it came from an attractive woman either.

Karin... she was very flirty. She knew how to make a guy feel good about himself. It was nice, but Nick didn't know how much he could take of it. He consistently found himself at a loss for words around her, and with all the compliments she threw out, he felt obligated to say something nice about her too. This was a problem. He sucked at complimenting girls. Whenever he tried, they either came out sounding really awkward or offensive.

"You too," he said.

Karin wore a confused expression in return.

Nick quickly scrambled to correct himself. "I mean... you look good too."

"Thanks." Karin's eyelashes fluttered.

Nick smiled cumbersomely. Talking to Karin made him uncomfortable a lot of the time. There was no meat to the conversations. Just small talk and Karin with her flirtiness.

"So tell me about you," she said unexpectedly. "What's your story?"

"Well... I'm, uh, from Texas. And I moved her a couple of months ago because I wanted to change... and then my buddy that lived up here got me a job at Glitterati. Yeah..."

One part of Nick's response really stuck to Karin. "You wanted to change? How?"

Nick could feel himself blushing again. Dammit. "I don't know. I guess I wanted to grow up. I had a cushy life in Texas so I never really had to. It stupid; I know."

"No, it's not stupid at all. I understand," Karin assured him.

Nick felt himself relaxing.

She added, "Sometimes we all need to learn what we're capable of alone."

"Definitely."

An awkward silence followed. Karin fumbled with her salad, frowning. Nick hadn't been oblivious to the fact that she had been disappointed with this whole lunch thing. She had taken in a lot more seriously that he had thought, and he felt bad. He knew it was up to him to start a conversation. He thought back to the first one he had with Karin, recalling his lack of discomfort at the time.

"So you got anymore dirt on Miley for me?" he asked.

Karin was less than amused. Despite her attempt to keep it away, Miley's essence had once again found its way into the lunch date. She knew she shouldn't be mad at Miley for it, but she was. She had _said_ she wasn't interested in Nick. Obviously, she had done something that interested _him_ because he wouldn't stop talking about her.

That was it. If dirt was what Nick wanted, that's what he'd get.

"Oh, I've got plenty. What do you want to know? Like I said, I know everything." She grinned.

Nick's interest was suddenly sparked. "Anything you can tell me."

"Well, I know some pretty exclusive stuff. But there is one thing in particular..." She trailed off.

"I want to know," Nick requested.

Karin was silent for a moment as if she was pondering something. "I don't want anyone to hear. I'll text it to you." She reached down to pull her phone from her bag. "What's your number?"

(Karin actually didn't care if anyone overheard the secret. At the moment, she was so pissed at Miley that she felt like screaming all of her secrets to the heavens. She just felt it was a creative way to obtain Nick's number.)

Nick recited the series of digits to his co-worker and she immedietly began to compose her message.

"Sent," she soon announced.

Nick nodded and reached into his pocket to retrieve his phone. When he didn't find it, he checked his other pocket. Nothing.

Had he left it by the registers when he as ordering? He decided it would be best to check.

"Hold on a sec." He lifted himself from his seat.

The registers were swarmed with people. It would be a hassle trying to get through them all if he didn't need to, so he decided to check his pockets one more time.

Unfortunately, this didn't turn out as expected. Frustrated, he plunged his hand into one of his pockets only to find it empty. As he yanked his hand out, it flung outward, sending Karin's Diet Coke flying until it landed in her lap and stained her white outfit.

Miley stood back and admired her hard work. She had taken a break from her usual business-y stuff and spent the morning deep cleaning her office.

After soaking in the cleanliness for a bit, she returned to her desk in hopes of getting some real work done before Nick came back. Speaking of Nick, his phone was still taking up space on her desk.

Upon remembering its presence, she picked up the phone and examined it. It was a pretty nice Blackberry, almost identical to hers. She turned it over. Someone had written on it in sharpie.

_I love Nick!_

It was obvious that the handwriting was of a female. The marker was worn, though, as if someone tried to rub it off. It wasn't more than a few seconds after this discovery that the device let out a beeping noise. Miley flipped the phone over again. There was a new message.

The businesswoman was suddenly overwhelmed with curiosity. Who did Nick text? The thought was instantly followed by feelings of remorse. Why did she care who Nick talked to? She didn't even like him, right?

_What if its something from the hotel?_ she asked herself, _then I have a right to know._

With that as her motivation, Miley pressed the okay button on the phone. She was prompted for a password. Knowing nearly nothing password worthy about Nick, she typed in the one thing she did know about him: his name.

She was in. Nick's password was Nick. Go figure.

It didn't take long for her to find his inbox where she uncovered a new text from "Caren Jamison." (What a moron!) Why was Karin texting Nick? Weren't they together?

Miley glanced at the message preview. _Hannah Montana was n..._

What the hell? Why was Karin talking about Hannah Montana? Miley no longer felt guilty about reading Nick's messages. In fact, she felt obligated. An anxious Miley opened the message.

From: Caren Jamison

**Hannah Montana was not a virgin.**

Nick had never felt worse. Karin's outfit was totaled. He'd tried not to clean up the best it could, but it was no use.

"I'm so sorry, Kare. You have no idea how bad I feel right now. I'll pay for new clothes. How much do you want?"

Karen felt a little better. Nick had called her Kare again.

"You know... it's okay Nick. I'm not mad," she said, smiling as much as she could in the current circumstances.

"Why not?" Nick was stunned. "If I were you, I would be _so _mad at me."

Karin shrugged. "It was an accident." She got up from her chair and stood next to her lunch-mate.

Nick was unsatisfied. "I know it's just..."

"It's just what?" asked Karin.

"It's just that I screwed this up so bad. This whole thing was a disaster. The past week has been a disaster. I haven't done anything right. It's... I don't know." Nick looked pretty upset.

Karin's heart fluttered. He cared! He really cared! She felt as if she were walking on air. She felt herself losing control. Slowly, slowly... until she found herself planting a kiss on Nick's check.

Oops.

Nick looked confused. So did Karin. She exploded in apologies. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. That was dumb... Oh, god."

Nick sighed. "It's okay." He tried to force an earnest expression.

It wasn't okay. It didn't feel right.

Miley was struck with a thousand emotions. Betrayal, sadness, embarrassment, and anger were among them.

What was Karin doing talking about Miley's personal business? She had told her these things in confidence. Miley had no doubt now that her "friend" was the one that spilled the secret of Miley's marriage to Nick as well.

Miley tried to settle down. Who cares if Nick knew about her days as Hannah Montana? He was just a stupid assistant. What did she care what he thought anyway?

Just then, the door burst open. Miley dropped the phone to her desk and Nick walked in.

"I am an _idiot_," he declared.

Miley made a successful effort to bury her emotions before responding. "No kidding."

Nick groaned and collapsed into a nearby chair.

"You have lipstick on your face," Miley notified him.

Alarmed, Nick aggressively began to rub his cheek, but the sad expression on his face remained.

"How bad could things have gone?" she added.

"Very badly. It was awful." Nick then told the whole story of the disastrous event from start to finish, Miley following the entire time.

"You did all that and she _still_ kissed you?" Miley said, astonished. "She must really like you, Gray." She also liked him enough to dish it all out on her best friend, but Miley didn't mention that.

Nick exhaled in distress. "That's the other thing. She likes me _so_ much, and I'm not sure what I think of her." Nick stopped himself. "I'm sorry I'm telling you all this. You don't want to hear it."

"You're right, but I kind of feel bad for you, so it's okay. Just don't get used to it," Miley said.

"You feel bad for me?" Nick's eyes widened.

Miley rushed to clarify. "Not in a friendly way! I mean it in more in a pitiful way."

Nick wasn't buying it. "Thanks for caring, Miley."

"Miss Stewart."

"Whatever."

"And I don't care about you. I feel bad for you," Miley cleared up. "Got it?"

"Whatever you say." Nick winked.

**I SUCK. There is no excuse for how long I took to update. I did, however, rewrite this chapter about 56 times, AND I did do a good job responding to all the reviews, I think. If I didn't reply to you, I'm so sorry! I'll do better next time.**

**I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Sad, but true. Three cheers for semi-long chapters? Hip hip...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Thursday. 6 AM. Nick Gray's cell phone rings from his bedside table. Startled, he reaches out for it, but he ultimately reaches _too_ far because seconds later he finds himself tumbling out of bed and crashing to an unwelcoming floor below. His cell stops ringing. His Yorkie, Gato, pounces on top of him.

"Fuck."

Nick stared at the ceiling. There was a slight stinging sensation on his forehead, but he was far too tired and shocked to care. He instead used the time to recollect a dream he was having before being so rudely awaken just moments before. He couldn't remember much, but he knew was in a giant cup of Diet Coke and Karin was there (looking smokin' as usual). And Miley was there too- except she was drowning. In his dream, Nick began frantically swimming toward her, but some pretty boy in a Speedo got there first. Nick remembered being pissed, and that's when he woke up. He didn't know who Mr. Speedo Man was exactly, but he had seen him before. He just couldn't remember exactly where.

Nick's phone rang for the second time that morning. He groaned and pushed Gato off of him. The dog screeched and Nick stumbled to retrieve his Blackberry.

"What?" he grumbled upon answering.

"Somebody's cranky," a female observed at the other end of the line. "I guess you never were a morning person anyway, though."

What the...? Who was this? Nick was bemused. He pulled his cell phone from his ear to check the caller ID, but, to his surprise, it was a private number.

"Who are you? Is this a prank?" he asked harshly. "Because if it is... it's not funny."

"Nick! It's _me!_" the obviously frustrated voice said. "How do you not know who I am?"

Nick answered softly, "Because I don't?"

Nick paused. The voice... it was definitely familiar. It was difficult to put a name to it, though, because he knew so many women. He had to take this investigation to the next level. What female would call him at six AM, had his cell number, and would demand that he know who they were? It didn't take much brain wracking before he could come up with an answer. No... it couldn't be... but it was...

"It's Cinnamon, you douchetard."

What a sweetheart- not.

Cinnamon (last name, Bowman) would be Nick'a psycho ex-girlfriend. Well his psycho-est ex-girlfriend; he'd had a lot of insane ones over the years. But Cinnamon was extremely crazy, extremely stupid, extremely easy, (she was now also displaying some attachment issues) and Nick had dated her. For two years.

"Do you realize that you almost just killed me?" Nick exclaimed, suddenly raging with anger. "I fell off my bed, my dog fell on me and-"

"Wah, wah, wah," Cinnamon jeered, "don't be such a girl."

Nick gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. It was all coming back to him in a whirlwind of emotions- the anger, the irritation, all of it. He and Cinnamon were _the_ couple from hell.

Cinnamon was abusive both physically and verbally. She couldn't go an hour without insulting her boyfriend. So why did they stay together for so long? It was because when they weren't trying to kill each other, things were good. Really good. On certain occasions, they were really, really good. There was only one unfortunate event that ended the relationship for good. Nick preferred not to talk about it.

"Why did you call me?" Nick questioned, ignoring the jab.

Cinnamon responded casually. "Mmm, I just needed to tell you something."

"What?"

"I have to ask you a question first, though," she announced, "then I'll tell you."

"And what would that be?" Nick asked. His voice was dry and unenthusiastic.

"Do you miss me, Nick?"

"Ha. No."

"Are you sure? You were always shy when it came to your feelings, you know," she pressed on.

"I'm positive."

"I miss you. I had a dream about you last night," Cinnamon notified him.

Nick rolled his eyes. "That's not weird or anything," he retorted sarcastically.

"Whatever, Nick. Whatever."

That was it. Nick was so over this conversation. He ended the call, turned off his phone, and started to make his way toward the shower.

Karin was on Cloud Nine. She danced around her apartment as she got ready on Thursday morning. Her feelings of embarrassment had melted away, revealing pure bliss underneath. She had kissed Nick and he had accepted it. Well sort of, anyway. But he didn't scream and run away, and that was a success in her book.

She couldn't stop thinking about Nick. He was adorable, he was kind, he was funny, and he was everything Karin ever longed for in a man. So he was a little wrapped up in Miley. He was her assistant. No big deal. And at one point he didn't know how to spell her name. But he did now.

After she was finished beautifying herself for the day, Karin sat down on the edge of her bed to spend some quality time with her laptop. She immedietly checked her _FriendsNet_ profile and found that she had one new notification:

**Nick Gray has accepted your friend request.**

Her heart fluttered as she followed the link to his profile. He had accepted her request in less than 24 hours. That had to mean something. She proceeded to write a heartfelt message on his profile:

_Nick,_

_Please don't worry about the outfit. I didn't like it that much anyway. lol. I had a great time yesterday. Hope we can do it again soon! -Kare_

Karin admired her work. Her message was sweet, claimed her property, and used Nick's pet name for her. Perfect.

After submitting the message, she put her laptop away and headed out to her car.

Gato yelped from his carrier as Nick entered the cylindrical building where he worked.

"Shut up!" Nick demanded sternly, and his dog fell silent.

Nick was still astounded that Miley had allowed him to bring his dog to work. But it wasn't really _that_ surprising considering he had paid her. It was obvious from her success that she was a sucker when it came to money. As sly as Miley thought she was, Nick could read Miley like book in some ways. However, he was still unsure if she was interested him or not. She was giving off mixed signals.

Nick took his normal route through the ground floor of the building to the elevator- dog carrier in one hand, and Miley's morning beverage in the other. He whistled the song that had been playing when he got out of his car and-

"NIIIIICKKK!" someone bellowed down the hallway behind him.

Before he could realize what was going on, someone rammed into Nick from behind. Miley's coffee exploded onto the front of his shirt, and a startled Gato began barking wildly.

Nick's perfectly sculpted jaw was dropped as he whipped around to see his attacker. Gato's barking died down to a whimper as he set his carrier down.

"Cinnamon..." Nick muttered, unsure of what else to say.

Cinnamon stood still for a moment, blinking unsteadily. "That wasn't supposed to happen. Are you mad?"

Nick answered, "Me? Mad? Pfft. What's there to be mad about? I love it when my boss' scolding hot coffee is all over my shirt." He spoke through gritted teeth, using every ounce of will power not to tackle his ex.

Cinnamon looked puzzled. "Well... that's a little weird but-"

"Of course I'm mad! God. What are you doing here? How did you find me?" He spit out all of the questions on his mind at once.

"Joe told me."

His own brother? Real cool, Joe. He _knew_ how much Nick hated his ex. There's no way he couldn't have. Nick made a mental note to make an angry phone call to his elder sibling later.

"I decided to visit New York, and I knew you lived here, so I called Joe. And...yeah."

Nick observed Cinnamon. She was four years younger than Nick, and about four inches shorter as well. She had the same huge, brown eyes and light hair that he remembered and was bundled up in a winter coat and boots. She looked cute, but not cute enough for Nick to care.

"So, what do we do now?" Cinnamon had the nerve to ask.

"_We_ are doing nothing. I'm going to work, and you're going far, far away." Nick picked up Gato's carrier from the ground.

Cinnamon didn't seem to comprehend Nick's request. She was distracted by Nick's dog. She knelt down so she was eye level with the animal and poked her finger inside his cage.

"Aww. Hewwo there widdle guy," she squealed, a huge smile plastered on her face.

Gato growled viciously at the woman.

"He doesn't like people, huh?" Cinnamon noted, backing away.

"No," Nick corrected her, "he just doesn't like wackjobs."

Cinnamon crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. "You're so freaking fake, Nick. We were together for a long time. Don't treat me like a stranger."

"Actually, I treat strangers better," Nick replied. (Burn)

"See!" Cinnamon exclaimed. "That's exactly what I'm talking about."

"Whatev-"

"Look, Nick," Cinnamon interrupted. "Me and you have been through a lot. You can't just forget about me."

Nick sighed and scratched his head with his free hand. "I don't want to talk about this right now."

"You never want to talk about it," Cinnamon pointed out, sighing as well. "But I do."

Nick caught the security guy at the front door eying he and Cinnamon suspiciously. He stared and his ex blankly and then said, "I've gotta get going." He turned and started away.

"You can't ignore it forever, Nick!" Cinnamon called behind him.

Miley arrived at the office on two hours of sleep. She was up all night preparing for her big day at work. The _New York Times_ was coming to shadow her for the day. If things worked out as planned, Glitterati Talent would have a spot in the paper within a few days. B.J. Brimstone, Miley's multimillion-dollar-music-producer friend was coming to hang out at the office and put some good words in for Miley when the reporters came.

But aside from work life, Miley was stressed about other things too. Upon discovering that Karin was a backstabbing liar, she was constantly worrying that Nick would leak her secret(s) to someone. That was what bothered her the most Thursday morning in her office.

A knock on her door interrupted Miley's thoughts. "Come in."

Karin opened the door. Miley suddenly felt tense. She clenched her fist and wore the dirtiest expression she could imagine.

"Uh, hey." Karin waved awkwardly.

Miley didn't respond.

Karin was a bit confused, but she continued anyway. "What do you want me to do?"

Everyone had a job at Glitterati on Thursday morning. Some people were out getting refreshments, others arranging and rearranging the chairs in the lobby. Miley planted herself in her office and waited for B.J. Brimstone and the reporters to arrive. Karin had come to see what her task was.

Miley smiled and drummed her fingers on her desk. "You're on dog duty today," she said.

"What are you talking about?" Karin asked, she took another step into the office and closed the door behind her. "Dog duty?"

"Nick's bringing his dog in today. You get to watch it."

Karin didn't say anything for a minute. She just shook her head. "Miley, I hate dogs. You know that."

Oh, Miley knew. She heard all the stories about Karin's ex-boyfriend, Tyler, and his evil Pitbull. She remembered how upset Karin had been after her arm was nearly shredded by the dog. How frightened she was, how shaken. She knew, but frankly, she didn't give a crap. Snitches get stitches. Literally.

"Tough," was all she said.

"What's your problem?" Karin sneered, placing a hand on her broad hips.

"I don't have a problem. You're the one with the problem," Miley spit back, managing to keep her cool for the time being.

"Oh yeah? And what would that be?"

"You're a backstabber," Miley hissed, "and I don't like that."

Karin snapped back, "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about!"

"Obviously, I don't!"

Miley rolled her eyes and spun her chair away from Karin. "Just leave before I do something that you're not going to like." She waved Karin away as she shut her down.

Karin fought the urge to say something and stomped toward the door.

"I set up a place in that storage closet for you and that dog!" Miley called as Karin opened the door. "He'll be here any minute!"

"Hmph!" Karin huffed as she closed the door softly, even though she _so_ wanted to slam it.

Miley spent the next few minutes in peace. She swiveled around in her chair and waited. Nick had told her he would probably be a little late today because of his dog anyway, and besides, she was too distracted to do any work.

It wasn't long after Miley's big fight with Karin that Nick burst into her office.

"Okay. I'm here. Where I do I put Gato?" he said. The dog barked on que.

Miley looked up and was instantly greeted with a funny tingle in her stomach. Why did Nick look so attractive today?

Immedietly following the strange feeling of attraction came another one of guilt. She couldn't be drawn to Nick. He was... himself. But as much as she hated herself for it, she was. She couldn't pinpoint the exact source of Nick's handsomeness because he didn't look any different than usual. He had the same brown eyes, same curly hair, same everything. Except...

"What the hell happened to you?" She gave Nick a full head to toe examination.

On second thought, he looked ridiculous. With dark coffee and the small remains of whipped cream splattered across his shirt and tie, and a red scratch smacked in the center of his forehead, Nick looked the opposite of professional.

Nick sighed. "I can explain."

"Please do," Miley requested, both curiosity urgency laced in her tone.

"It's kind of a long story but my crazy ex-girlfriend tackled me on the way in. I was holding your coffee." Nick explained his appearance in the simplest way he could. "Should I say more?"

"And that's how you have that scratch on your head?" Miley didn't hesitate to ask.

"Scratch..." Nick felt his forehead. Sure enough, he felt the presence of some sort of cut. Just great. He must of hit his head when he rolled out of bed earlier. "Cinnamon!" he cursed her name under his breath.

"Cinnamon?" Miley repeated, clearly confused. "Like the spice?"

"No," Nick filled her in, "like my ex."

"Who names their kid _Cinnamon_?" Miley chuckled as she spoke, and stood up from her chair.

"Who names their kid _Miley_?" Nick quickly countered, but was then repulsed by his own defensiveness.

Miley rolled her eyes, not amused in the slightest. She paused then stated, "We really need to get you cleaned up..."

Just then, Karin appeared in the open doorway of Miley's office. She still had a sour look rotting on her face. "I heard the dog..." she explained herself, then focused on Nick. "What happened to your face?"

"Freak accident," Nick grumbled.

"I have some cover up in my office if you're interested," Karin offered.

"You mean like makeup?"

"Yeah..."

"He's interested," Miley spoke for her assistant. "Go with her- and bring your dog too." She leered at Karin.

Nick and Karin left and Miley was left in her own thoughts.

It was then that it hit her. He was beautiful. Nick was beautiful. No, he couldn't be beautiful. He was Nick. _Nick! _But even when he looked like a mess, he still looked good. And that was something she couldn't deny.

Bleck.

Nick was a little hesitant to talk to Karin after the awkward lunch the day before, but it wasn't really like he had a choice.

"You can put your dog over there." Karin pointed to an empty corner of her office when they arrived. "I have to watch him today." _Unfortunately, _she wanted to add but didn't.

Nick decided to ignore the reluctance in Karin's voice and obeyed.

He looked around the room while Karin rummaged through her knock off Coach purse. A photo on a nearby wall caught his attention. Karin had photos of models all over her office. It made a lot of sense considering she was the head of the modeling department or something like that. But, one centerfold on the cover of a _Playboy_ magazine looked familiar- really familiar. Nick squinted to get a closer look.

She was Karin.

Karin did _Playboy_? Holy... shit.

Nick's mind was racing. She looked good, yes. But _Playboy?_ He just didn't like that.

"So, you found that, huh?" he heard someone said.

Nick snapped his head up and saw Karin looking straight at him. He began to blush wildly.

"That's one of my favorite shoots. What do you think?"

"You... modeled?" Nick managed to squeak out.

"You didn't know that?" Karin seemed a little offended, but then joked, "Don't think I'm good enough?"

"Oh, I do. I just didn't know." Nick shrugged.

"I was in a lot better shape then. It was just after I... I..." she trailed off.

"After you what?" Nick asked. He glanced at the picture again.

"Nothing."

"Oh."

"Come here and let me put this on you." Karin held up a tube containing some kind of peachy substance. She motioned Nick toward her.

Nick struggled at finding a place to focus while Karin applied the makeup to his forehead. He didn't feel comfortable looking into her eyes, but felt weird and out of place looking at anywhere else. As a result, his eyes darted from place to place as he stood.

Karin tried to cure the awkwardness by starting a friendly conversation with Nick. "So what's your dogs name?"

"Gato."

Karin looked confused. "Isn't that Spanish for-"

"Cat. Yep," Nick finished for her.

"Why...?"

"Why not?"

Now there _was_ an awkward silence. Karin just stared at Nick strangely.

"All done." Karin smiled. "Do you want to see it? I might have mirror in my purse somewhere," she added.

"No, I trust you." Nick smiled uncomfortably.

Karin's heart fluttered at the sound of the words. Trust- definitely an important part of a healthy relationship.

"After work do you maybe wanna-" she started to make plans but was soon cut off.

"Hey, I've got to go. See you around, okay?" Nick excused himself before scurrying out of Karin's sight.

When Nick returned to Miley's office, there was one more person there than when he had first arrived.

"Gray, this is my good friend, B.J. Brimstone," Miley pointed to the man beside her. He wore a white suit that clashed against his dark skin. Expensive looking sunglasses hid his eyes, but his straight, white teeth were perfectly visible. Oh, and he was freaking _ripped_.

"I go by Nick, actually." Nick suppressed a laugh as he shook hands with B.J., although his motives were at all apparent.

"I hope you know how lucky you are to be able to work for this woman." B.J. placed a hand on Miley's shoulder. "She's amazing at what she does." He smiled again.

"Oh, stop!" Miley blushed in flattery.

Suddenly, Nick felt small. He couldn't help but notice how much Miley glowed around B.J. But why shouldn't she? He was handsome, successful, and rich. Not to mention smooth. Nick was well, himself.

"But, man..." A puzzled B.J. continued, "what happened to your shirt?"

Nick's face felt like it was on fire. This was definitely one of the most embarrassing moments of his life. Why was this happening to him? How could Cinnamon ruin his life when she wasn't even there?

"Freak accident," Nick said, clenching his teeth.

"I won't ask," B.J. stated with a grin.

Nick nodded. "Don't."

B.J. seemed to be thinking something over as he stood before Nick. After a few moments of silence passed before he said, "I might have an extra suit in my car. You can check it out if you'd like..."

What kind of person kept an extra suit in their car? Nick didn't like this guy already, and the last thing he wanted to do was borrow clothes from him. But with the glare Miley shot at him, he knew he couldn't say no.

B.J. cracked a smile. "I don't know if we're the same size, but, you know..."

Both he and Miley exploded into laughter.

Nick didn't even smile.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH. THAT'S SO FUCKING FUNNY.

NO.

The laughing fit eventually ended and B.J. lead Nick to his car. The walk was awkwardly silent for the most part, but B.J. started a conversation as the two arrived it the parking garage.

"So Miley..." he started casually as they sauntered toward the car. "Does she ever... talk about me?" he asked calmly.

Nick got great pleasure from answering. "No."

"Well... I just want your opinion on something. Since you spend a lot of time with her," B.J. continued. They arrived at a sleek black sports car and he dug through his pockets in search of his keys.

"Yeah?" said Nick.

B.J. retrieved his keys and suddenly paused. "What do you think she would say if I asked her out?" He didn't beat around the bush.

Yes. As much as Nick hated it, Miley would say yes. What an easy question. How could she say no to B.J. Brimstone? But wait! Nick flickered back to the first day he met Karin.

"_Just between you and me, she doesn't really like men."_

"_There was an incident... with a certain male assistant."_

There was still a glimmer of hope for Nick.

B.J. interpreted Nick's hesitation on his own. "Oh! Are you guys already together? I'm sorry, man! I'm-"

Ha! Wouldn't that be nice? Nick had yet to make Miley smile like B.J., let alone successfully ask her out.

"No, we're not together," Nick cut him off. "And she would say yes... to you... I think."

B.J. looked relieved, he flashed his million-dollar smile. "You really think so? Thanks!" He slapped Nick on the back.

The "friendly" blow actually put Nick in minor pain, but B.J. was too busy unlocking his trunk to notice.

The two filed back upstairs where Nick changed into B.J.'s bright white suit. To his disgust, it was way too big.

Miley found a sickening amount of humor in the size mismatch of Nick's new attire. She and B.J. were practically doubled over in laughter at the sight. Once again, not funny.

Nick was having a sucky day. Cinnamon had showed up, and if that wasn't bad enough, Miley was completely blowing Nick off. Not that she was nice to him before, but this was getting ridiculous. She introduced him as "Gray", and had done nothing but laugh at Nick since he'd gotten there. Now she was completely ignoring him. Joy.

Miley was officially the most confusing woman Nick had ever come to know.

It didn't help that Miley was falling all over BlowJ Brimstone either. What was this? Didn't Karin say Miley didn't date anymore?

After what seemed like hours of conversation with Miley, B.J. excused himself to the restroom, leaving Miley and Nick alone.

"Isn't he funny?" Miley gushed after he left.

"Hilarious," Nick scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Miley smirked as she sensed the sarcasm in Nick's voice. "Somebody's jealous..." she sing-songed, the corners of her mouth still upturned.

"Whatever. Let's just drop it, okay?" Nick requested sternly.

"I don't like him like that, Gray," Miley seriously admitted, simultaneously drawing conclusions. "He's funny and all, but... I don't know."

"Good for you," Nick deadpanned. "I forgot something in my car. Be right back," he lied, then turned to leave.

Nick closed the door before Miley could say anymore. She had obviously done something wrong. Typically, Miley wouldn't care. So why did she feel such an awful feeling of guilt now?

"Can you stop sniffing and just go?" Karin tugged on Gato's leash. She had brought the dog outside for a bathroom break a few minutes after obtaining the animal

Karin observed her surroundings. A thin layer of snow covered the ground, and more was falling around her. Cars whizzed by. A sad looking, short, brunette sat on a bench just a few yards away.

Suddenly, Karin felt another presence approaching her from behind.

"Nick!" Karin smiled widely. "What are you doing here?"

Nick looked distraught, so unlike himself. "I don't even know. I told Miley I needed to get something from my car but..." His dog made its way toward Nick and sniffed his foot. "Hey Gato."

"Nick!" someone else said from behind. Surprised, Karin turned around and saw the sad (now happy) looking brunette dashing towards them.

"Go _away_, Cinnamon." Nick was clearly not in the mood.

Cinnamon ignored Nick, as usual, and shifted her attention to Karin. She squinted suspiciously at the blonde, and then sneered at Nick, "Who's she?"

"Karin."

"Is she your girlfriend? Is that why you haven't been talking to me?" Cinnamon, making her own assumptions, looked horrified. She looked at Nick so hard that he expected laser beams to shoot out of her eyes.

Nick's first reaction was to answer with a truthful "no," but that was before an idea struck him. Maybe if Cinnamon was under the impression that Nick had a girlfriend, she would _leave him the hell alone_.

"Yep, you got me. Karin and I are dating," he said.

Karin's heart practically leaped out of her chest. They were dating? They were really dating? She was hoping for a more formal proposal, but she'd take what she could get. It must have been the cute Friendsnet message that got him.

Cinnamon was overwhelmed with jealousy. She faced Karin and whispered, "Does he have a song for you? Nick always sang for me." She crossed her arms.

Nick rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Cinnamon."

Karin tugged on Gato's leash awkwardly, unsure of what else to do.

"He sang me _Cinnamon Girl_. You know that Neil Young song? He-" she was cut off by Nick again.

"Leave!"

"You're so fake Nick!" she yelled as she marched away. "Did you hear me? Fake!"

Nick wasn't even sure what that was supposed to mean. Oh well. His plan was successful. "Sorry. Pysco ex," he explained.

Karin smiled warmly. "I totally get it," she assured him.

"Thanks for covering for me. I didn't know how else to get her away," he told her graciously. "My day sucks right now."

Covering for him? Karin wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but she did something right and that was all that mattered.

"No problem," she said, then added, "I didn't know you sang."

Nick's cheeks flushed red. "Yeah..." He shoved his hands in his pockets uncomfortably.

"I'd like to hear you sometime," she told him, batting her eyelashes as well.

"Yeah. We'll see. I've got to get going." Nick turned and started toward the entrance.

"Text me?" Karin called after him.

He didn't hear her. It didn't matter. She and Nick were _dating!_ She couldn't believe it.

Just then, Gato scratched her ankle. "Stupid dog," she muttered.

Nick avoided talking to Miley as much as he could. He did what he was told to do without much feedback, putting Miley at _anything but_ ease. She mentally slapped herself for it, ashamed that she was putting anyone's feelings before hers, but she couldn't help it. While B.J. went off on his own to socialize with the other Glitterati employees, Nick sulked around the building without a word. It was annoying.

Luckily, Miley couldn't feel too guilty before the people from the _New York Times_ arrived.

The reporters name was Adam. He was middle aged and obviously wearing a toupee. Other than that, he was notably skinny and had gray teeth. He looked relatively friendly, but it only took one look at him to know he was serious about his job. It should also be mentioned that he rarely spoke in complete sentences.

Adam was accompanied by his photographer/wife, Eve. (Yes, it was Adam and freaking Eve. No joke.) Eve was the female version of Adam- minus the fake hair that is.

B.J. returned to Miley's office just as she and Nick were greeting the new visitors.

"B.J. Brimstone. In Glitterati. Today. Why?" Adam took out his audio recorder while Eve snapped a picture of the Music Producer.

B..J. responded with a smile and said, "Oh, just hear to check out some talent. Miss Stewart here finds the best musicians."

Miley flushed at the compliment. "Oh, B.J." Eve snapped another picture.

Adam turned to Nick for his next question. "Nick. Miley Stewart's assistant. Yes?"

Nick sniffled and agreed dryly. "Yes."

"Miley. Thoughts on her?" Adam asked.

That's when it hit her; Miley knew why she was so anxious that she hurt Nick's feelings. Nick knew things about her. He knew her secrets- about her marriage, about her sex life. He knew things that could hurt her rep. Bad rep equals bad press. Bad press equals no career. Now Miley was panicking. What if he told?

Miley spoke before Nick could even open his mouth. "Don't be too harsh!" Miley joked nervously. Everyone chuckled, but she wasn't really joking.

Nick looked a little confused, but answered anyway. "Miley's a good boss. She treats me well. Does a good job."

"One thing we should know about her?"

Maybe she was just paranoid, but Miley was pretty worked up by this question. And scared- really scared. When Miley was paranoid, she tended to overact and say stupid things to distract people. Now was no exception.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I just have to say it. Adam, your hair looks fabulous. I mean, it barely looks fake."

That totally came out wrong. Adam froze, glaring at Miley. Miley's jaw dropped at her own mistake.

Miley tried to correct herself, but ended up worsening the situation. "What I meant was that... It doesn't look bad..." Shit, she had nothing.

Just when she thought she was doomed, someone piped up: "Miley didn't literally think your hair was fake. It's just an expression. When someone says something 'barely looks fake', it means they love it," he falsely explained. "It's a new thing."

Eve looked relieved, and touched her husband on the shoulder. "Oh, Adam!" she exclaimed. "Looks like we really need to catch up on modern slang. Huh?"

It took a second, but soon Adam was smiling and laughing along. Then B.J. too. Miley looked at Nick in amazement. Even when he was mad at her, Nick still saved Miley's ass.

Nick smiled back.

"Nick... can I talk to you outside for a minute?" Miley asked quietly, once the laughing had died down.

Nick nodded, and the two excused themselves to the hallway.

"Why?" she simply asked once they were in private. "Why did you do that for me?"

Nick smiled softly again. "It's my job, isn't it?" he asked.

"No. You didn't have to do that," she whispered, looking at the ground. Nick had never seen Miley look so vulnerable. Nick wanted to touch her, but he knew he shouldn't.

"But I have to ask," said Nick, "what the hell were you thinking?" his grin grew wider and Miley couldn't help but smile back.

"I don't know. I was afraid."

"Of what?"

"What you would say."

"What I would say?" Nick said, clueless. He scratched his head, taken by surprise. "What did you think I would say?"

"I know that Karin has been telling you things about me," Miley admitted. "I was scared that you would tell them... because you were mad at me." Miley sighed.

Now Nick had more questions than he did before. "How did you know that."

"I looked at your phone," Miley confessed. "I saw what she texted you."

What Karin said on his phone? What? Nick thought. He thought hard. He thought long. And then it was obvious. He had forgotten all about the Miley-text Karin sent him in McDonalds. He hadn't even read it.

Nick ignored the fact that Miley had broke into his phone and continued to play dumb. "Refresh my memory. What did the message say?"

"You know what it said." Miley rolled her eyes. Naturally, she assumed Nick had read the message when he got his phone back.

"No, I really don't remember," Nick reiterated. That was half-true.

Miley made sure no one else was around before she said quietly, "You know—Hannah Montana? Not a Virgin?"

Nick was actually kind of disappointed. That was a secret? Hannah Montana (AKA Miley at ages 14-17 or 18) had done the dirty? Was he supposed to care or something? Miley was famous. He just kind of inferred that kind of stuff.

"Oh! That text!" Nick's sounded convincing. "Why would I say that?"

"Why wouldn't you?" Miley nearly yelled. "How could you resist?"

"I'm not that mean, Miley."

Miley smiled, and looked at Nick. God, his eyes were beautiful. "I guess I know that now, don't I?" she said.

"I guess so," Nick said.

"Thanks, Nick." she said. "A lot."

Nick suddenly froze. His mouth opened in shock, but he didn't say anything.

"What?" a perplexed Miley asked.

"You called me Nick," he observed, "instead of Gray."

Miley cursed herself. What was wrong with her today? "Damn," was all she said.

Nick placed his hand on the doorknob. "Come on. Let's go back in." He didn't say another word about the name slip up.

Nick opened the door for Miley and watched her go inside. It really sucked that she would be dating BlowJ Brimstone the end of the day.

The rest of the interview went smoothly and ended around lunchtime. Nick took the first part this half-hour to check on Gato in the storage closet. Karin was ecstatic to see him as usual.

"Hey!" she said, hurrying towards him. "What's up?"

"Nothing. Just checking on Gato. How is he?" Nick walked toward his dog, which was asleep in its carrier.

Karin's face dropped. Of course he was there to see the dumb dog.

She decided to make conversation anyway. "So, what are you doing after work? You should come over." She went straight to the point.

Nick swallowed hard, then faced Karin. He hated it when he got nervous like this around her. "I... I can't. I have to take Gato to the dog-boarding place. Miley and I leave for Vegas tomorrow."

Suddenly, Karin had a brilliant idea. If it was a result of desperateness she would never know, but it didn't matter. "Don't spend money to board your dog!" she told Nick. "Drop him off at my house. I'll take care of him." Isn't that what good girlfriends did?

Nick raised a doubtful eyebrow. "You know how to take care of dogs?" he asked skeptically.

Even though Nick had every right to be worried, Karin was partially offended. Regardless, she continued. "Are you kidding? I love dogs. Bring him over tonight. We can have drinks too."

Nick let the idea roll around in his head. He could really use the extra cash these days. New York rent was not cheap. But he really didn't want to give Karin the impression that he was interested. Hmm...

_You know what? Who gives? _he thought.

"See you tonight, then," he said.

Karin grinned. The things she did for men. "Awesome. Just text me," she told him.

"Okay."

"I'm going to go grab something from the cafeteria real quick. Can you watch Gato?" she asked Nick nicely. "I'll only be a sec."

"Yeah, that's fine." Nick nodded, glancing at his dog.

Karin thanked him, and went to retrieve her fake Coach bag from the other end of the room. She winked at Nick as she exited the room, leaving the door open behind her.

Even if she wasn't Nick's type, she was still freaking hot.

Gato was still sleeping, so Nick peered out the door to watch what was going on elsewhere. A few seconds later, he heard Eve's voice from down the hall. She was with Karin.

"I love your bag," Eve was saying. "It doesn't even look fake!"

Karin huffed and marched away. Eve looked confused. Nick couldn't help but laugh.

As Nick stood before the door of Karin's apartment later that night, Gato's carrier in one hand, dog food in the other, he reminded himself why he was there.

Give her the dog. Have a quick drink. Get _out._

He had to be quick. Nick was leaving for Vegas at 6AM the next morning and had packed exactly zero things. He also had to print the hotel reservation confirmation. And sleep—he was exhausted after a busy day at work.

Nick used his free hand to knock, and the door swung open just seconds after.

"Nick! I'm so glad to see you!" Karin was wearing a gray tank top and bright pink sweats. Her hair was gently pulled back, fastened with a cute sparkly clip. It was at this point that Nick realized that he had never seen Karin in so little clothing. It was also when he tried to convince himself that it wasn't important.

"Hey." Nick took a gulp, and entered the apartment. It was huge, almost double the size of his own. All the furniture was made of black leather with the exception of the dinette set which was made of glossy wood. A basketball game was on the lustrous flat screen TV. And, like in Karin's office, pictures of models covered the walls.

Maybe he would stay for a while longer, after all.

"You can put Gato and his stuff over there. I'll let him out later," Karin told him. Nick obeyed. He felt bad since Gato had been boxed up all day, but he couldn't waste energy worrying about it now.

"Sit down. Make yourself comfy." Karin beamed, motioning toward the leaving area. "I'll get the drinks." With that, she turned and made her way to the small kitchen.

Nick slowly lowered himself into one of the cushiony leather chairs. His eyes wandered around the room, but he was too anxious concentrate on anything. He took out his phone and looked at the time. 8:49. He put his phone back into his pocket. He had to get home soon.

Maybe it was just because Nick was tired, but he could have sworn that the seat was the most comfortable one he'd ever sat in. He had to stay awake though, so he tried to focus on the television until Karin returned with his beverage.

"Here you go," Karin said. She handed Nick a glass filled with reddish fluid, then took her an identical one and sat in a nearby reclining chair.

Nick tasted the drink. It was a little fruity, but tasty. He took a swig and set the drink down on the coffee table in front of him. Then sank back into his seat.

"How was your day?" Karin asked suddenly, taking a sip of her drink.

Oh yeah. She was here. "Fucked up. I was busy all day." That was the best way to put it.

Karin flirted in response. "But it's better now that your with me, right?" she said, kittenish.

Nick didn't want to agree, but he didn't want to respond either. So, "Mmm," was all he said.

Karin didn't say anything more for a while. Whether it was because she was offended or because of something else, Nick would never know. The quiet was starting to get him. The cozy leather beneath him felt softer than ever. The sound of TV faded to an inaudible drone...

And then he woke up.

When he realized he had been asleep, Nick swore under his breath and jerked himself upward. He looked at the television. The basketball game was over.

"Someone was sleepy," Karin commented. She was still curled up in her same seat. Her glass was empty.

Nick was more panicked then ever. "What time is it?" His eyes widened as he spoke.

Karin grabbed her phone from the coffee table and recited the time. 11:23.

Horrified, Nick jumped from his seat. He had to be on a plane in less than seven hours. He had to meat Miley at the airport in less five. He had to pack. Looked like his little nap was going to be the only sleep he got until he boarded the aircraft.

"I've got to go. I'm really sorry for falling asleep. Take good care of Gato for me." Nick dashed to the door, but hadn't even touched the handle before he felt a hand on his wrist.

"Wait."

Nick rotated so he was standing face to face with Karin. Her blue eyes were calm, staring into his own brown ones. She softly took his other hand and whispered to him, "You looked cute when you were sleeping."

Nick was speechless. He looked away.

"Look at me, Nick," she said. He couldn't help but to do so.

"Touch me," she commanded, her voice smooth and alluring.

Nick couldn't do anything. He felt weak, but not in a good way. He wanted out, but couldn't find a way. He didn't even have to move though. Karin gripped Nick's hand tighter and moved them to her hips.

"Do you think I'm pretty, Nick?" she asked him enticingly. "Hmm?"

Nick didn't answer. It felt as if all the muscles in his body had gone numb.

"Do you?" she repeated in the same tone.

"Yes," he managed to say. But that was all.

"Then kiss me," she said. A piece of her blonde hair fell from her ponytail and dangled in front of her face.

Nick couldn't say a word. Not yes. Not no. Nothing. So he just stood still, not sure of what to do next. And then he felt Karin's lips on his, kissing him. And her tongue on his lips. And then he felt himself kissing back. She was a such good kisser...

And then a picture of Miley flashed in his mind, and he jerked away.

He didn't know exactly why he pulled away. It's not like he and Miley were in some sort of exclusive relationship, or any relationship at all. It just didn't feel right. He felt like he was betraying Miley—and himself too. He was slipping into his old ways and he hated himself for it.

"I have to go," he said. Then he left. That was it.

"Nick? What's wrong?" Karin had called, shocked and frightened. But he had ignored her.

Nick pressed his forehead against the brick wall just outside Karin's apartment. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping he would wake up from some absurd dream. Nothing happened, and Nick was overwhelmed with a feeling of anger. Why did he let himself do that? What was wrong with him?

Why did he like Miley so much when she would never love him back?

**Long time, no update. To the both of you who are still reading this, I sincerely thank you. 3 Sorry for such a long chapter. I had a lot of things I wanted to get in before Miley and Nick left for Vegas.**

**Thanks for all of your reviews! Keep them coming. I love reading what you guys have to say. Remember: if you favorite or subscribe, leave a review telling me what you like! (:**

**Well, I hope you liked this chapter. Please let me know if you hate it though. I had a fun time writing it, but I don't know. For my American readers, I hope you're having a good summer. (I'm enjoying my OhioSummer, hehe) For everyone else, I hope you're enjoying yourself too.**

**Much love!**

**PS: Thanks to the person you tweeted my story last time!**


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